Adaptation of orienting behavior: from the barn owl to a robotic system

Biological systems are able to adapt to large variations in their physical and functional properties. As a neurophysiological correlation of the adjustment of motor responses, neural maps in the tectum tend to realign if the sensory inputs are manipulated. We have recently proposed that the development and maintenance of such map alignment can be explained through a process of learning, in which plasticity is mediated by the activation of diffuse-projecting neuromodulatory systems which respond to innate or acquired salient cues. This proposal was tested using a detailed computer model of the principal neural structures involved in the process of spatial localization in the barn owl. Here we consider the application of this model to the control of the orienting behavior of a robotic system in the presence of auditory and visual stimulation. The system we consider is composed of a robotic head equipped with two lateral microphones and a camera. We show that the model produces accurate orienting behavior toward both auditory and visual stimuli during normal visual experience, after alteration of the visual inputs, and after the re-establishment of normal visual conditions.