The prey capture of Etruscan shrews is one of the most sophisticated tactile behaviors in the animal kingdom. Shrew prey capture is a high-speed behavior that relies on precise attacks guided by tactile Gestalt cues. Behavioral and deprivation experiments have shown that tactile experience is required for the successful prey capture.
In the future we will apply large-scale two-photon Ca-imaging and large-scale anatomy methods like the glass-brain technique to understand the neural mechanisms that lay down tactile experience in the shrew brain. Behavioral experiments will be used to establish what forms of tactile experience drive tactile learning. Thus we plan an integrated behavioral, physiological and anatomical approach towards a systemic understanding of tactile learning and development.
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