@article{BerlijnHildebrandtGamer2022,
  author    = {Berlijn, Adam M. and Hildebrandt, Lea K. and Gamer, Matthias},
  title     = {Idiosyncratic viewing patterns of social scenes reflect individual preferences},
  series = {Journal of Vision},
  volume    = {22},
  journal   = {Journal of Vision},
  number    = {13},
  doi       = {10.1167/jov.22.13.10},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-301029},
  year      = {2022},
  abstract  = {In general, humans preferentially look at conspecifics in naturalistic images. However, such group-based effects might conceal systematic individual differences concerning the preference for social information. Here, we investigated to what degree fixations on social features occur consistently within observers and whether this preference generalizes to other measures of social prioritization in the laboratory as well as the real world. Participants carried out a free viewing task, a relevance taps task that required them to actively select image regions that are crucial for understanding a given scene, and they were asked to freely take photographs outside the laboratory that were later classified regarding their social content. We observed stable individual differences in the fixation and active selection of human heads and faces that were correlated across tasks and partly predicted the social content of self-taken photographs. Such relationship was not observed for human bodies indicating that different social elements need to be dissociated. These findings suggest that idiosyncrasies in the visual exploration and interpretation of social features exist and predict real-world behavior. Future studies should further characterize these preferences and elucidate how they shape perception and interpretation of social contexts in healthy participants and patients with mental disorders that affect social functioning.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{StegmannAndreattaPaulietal.2021,
  author    = {Stegmann, Yannik and Andreatta, Marta and Pauli, Paul and Wieser, Matthias J.},
  title     = {Associative learning shapes visual discrimination in a web-based classical conditioning task},
  series = {Scientific Reports},
  volume    = {11},
  journal   = {Scientific Reports},
  number    = {1},
  doi       = {10.1038/s41598-021-95200-6},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-260480},
  year      = {2021},
  abstract  = {Threat detection plays a vital role in adapting behavior to changing environments. A fundamental function to improve threat detection is learning to differentiate between stimuli predicting danger and safety. Accordingly, aversive learning should lead to enhanced sensory discrimination of danger and safety cues. However, studies investigating the psychophysics of visual and auditory perception after aversive learning show divergent findings, and both enhanced and impaired discrimination after aversive learning have been reported. Therefore, the aim of this web-based study is to examine the impact of aversive learning on a continuous measure of visual discrimination. To this end, 205 participants underwent a differential fear conditioning paradigm before and after completing a visual discrimination task using differently oriented grating stimuli. Participants saw either unpleasant or neutral pictures as unconditioned stimuli (US). Results demonstrated sharpened visual discrimination for the US-associated stimulus (CS+), but not for the unpaired conditioned stimuli (CS-). Importantly, this finding was irrespective of the US's valence. These findings suggest that associative learning results in increased stimulus salience, which facilitates perceptual discrimination in order to prioritize attentional deployment.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{SchilcherThammStrubeBlossetal.2021,
  author    = {Schilcher, Felix and Thamm, Markus and Strube-Bloss, Martin and Scheiner, Ricarda},
  title     = {Opposing actions of octopamine and tyramine on honeybee vision},
  series = {Biomolecules},
  volume    = {11},
  journal   = {Biomolecules},
  number    = {9},
  issn      = {2218-273X},
  doi       = {10.3390/biom11091374},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-246214},
  year      = {2021},
  abstract  = {The biogenic amines octopamine and tyramine are important neurotransmitters in insects and other protostomes. They play a pivotal role in the sensory responses, learning and memory and social organisation of honeybees. Generally, octopamine and tyramine are believed to fulfil similar roles as their deuterostome counterparts epinephrine and norepinephrine. In some cases opposing functions of both amines have been observed. In this study, we examined the functions of tyramine and octopamine in honeybee responses to light. As a first step, electroretinography was used to analyse the effect of both amines on sensory sensitivity at the photoreceptor level. Here, the maximum receptor response was increased by octopamine and decreased by tyramine. As a second step, phototaxis experiments were performed to quantify the behavioural responses to light following treatment with either amine. Octopamine increased the walking speed towards different light sources while tyramine decreased it. This was independent of locomotor activity. Our results indicate that tyramine and octopamine act as functional opposites in processing responses to light.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{StreinzerBrockmannNagarajaetal.2013,
  author    = {Streinzer, Martin and Brockmann, Axel and Nagaraja, Narayanappa and Spaethe, Johannes},
  title     = {Sex and Caste-Specific Variation in Compound Eye Morphology of Five Honeybee Species},
  series = {PLoS ONE},
  journal   = {PLoS ONE},
  doi       = {10.1371/journal.pone.0057702},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-96412},
  year      = {2013},
  abstract  = {Ranging from dwarfs to giants, the species of honeybees show remarkable differences in body size that have placed evolutionary constrains on the size of sensory organs and the brain. Colonies comprise three adult phenotypes, drones and two female castes, the reproductive queen and sterile workers. The phenotypes differ with respect to tasks and thus selection pressures which additionally constrain the shape of sensory systems. In a first step to explore the variability and interaction between species size-limitations and sex and caste-specific selection pressures in sensory and neural structures in honeybees, we compared eye size, ommatidia number and distribution of facet lens diameters in drones, queens and workers of five species (Apis andreniformis, A. florea, A. dorsata, A. mellifera, A. cerana). In these species, male and female eyes show a consistent sex-specific organization with respect to eye size and regional specialization of facet diameters. Drones possess distinctly enlarged eyes with large dorsal facets. Aside from these general patterns, we found signs of unique adaptations in eyes of A. florea and A. dorsata drones. In both species, drone eyes are disproportionately enlarged. In A. dorsata the increased eye size results from enlarged facets, a likely adaptation to crepuscular mating flights. In contrast, the relative enlargement of A. florea drone eyes results from an increase in ommatidia number, suggesting strong selection for high spatial resolution. Comparison of eye morphology and published mating flight times indicates a correlation between overall light sensitivity and species-specific mating flight times. The correlation suggests an important role of ambient light intensities in the regulation of species-specific mating flight times and the evolution of the visual system. Our study further deepens insights into visual adaptations within the genus Apis and opens up future perspectives for research to better understand the timing mechanisms and sensory physiology of mating related signals.},
  language  = {en}
}