Alternation emerges as a multi-modal strategy for turbulent odor navigation
Abstract
Foraging mammals exhibit a familiar yet poorly characterized phenomenon, ‘alternation’, a pause to sniff in the air preceded by the animal rearing on its hind legs or raising its head. Rodents spontaneously alternate in the presence of airflow, suggesting that alternation serves an important role during plume-tracking. To test this hypothesis, we combine fully resolved simulations of turbulent odor transport and Bellman optimization methods for decision-making under partial observability. We show that an agent trained to minimize search time in a realistic odor plume exhibits extensive alternation together with the characteristic cast-and-surge behavior observed in insects. Alternation is linked with casting and occurs more frequently far downwind of the source, where the likelihood of detecting airborne cues is higher relative to ground cues. Casting and alternation emerge as complementary tools for effective exploration with sparse cues. A model based on marginal value theory captures the interplay between casting, surging, and alternation.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Aug 23, 2022
- Source ID
- 10.7554/elife.76989
Entities
People
- Agnese Seminara
- Gautam Reddy
- Massimo Vergassola
- Nicola Rigolli
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- European Research Council
- Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
- Harvard University
- Laboratoire de physique de l'École normale supérieure
- NTT, Inc.
- National Science Foundation
- Office of the Director
- University of Côte d'Azur
- University of Genoa