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Summary: Biol Cybern (2008) 98:449458
DOI 10.1007/s00422-008-0214-4
REVIEW
Object localization with whiskers
Ehud Ahissar · Per Magne Knutsen
Received: 5 November 2007 / Accepted: 27 January 2008
© Springer-Verlag 2008
Abstract Rats use their large facial hairs (whiskers) to
detect, localize and identify objects in their proximal three-
dimensional (3D) space. Here, we focus on recent evidence
of how object location is encoded in the neural sensory path-
ways of the rat whisker system. Behavioral and neuronal
observations have recently converged to the point where
object location in 3D appears to be encoded by an efficient
orthogonal scheme supported by primary sensory-afferents:
each primary-afferent can signal object location by a spa-
tial (labeled-line) code for the vertical axis (along whisker
arcs), a temporal code for the horizontal axis (along whisker
rows), and an intensity code for the radial axis (from the face
out). Neuronal evidence shows that (i) the identities of acti-
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