Flexible strategies for the pursuit of moving objects

Extraction of relevant stimulus features from the dynamic sensory scene needs to be coupled to the execution of appropriate adaptive responses to ensure survival. A predator needs to evaluate its position with respect to that of moving prey, define an approach strategy and carry out the proper motor commands to execute it. The most efficient strategy will require an estimation of the future position of the target and should account for the predator’s sensorimotor processing delays to make a predictive interception. Mice can hunt moving prey and have been established as a successful model to study visually guided pursuit and capture behaviours. However, their ability to adapt their pursuit strategy to the direction of travel and speed of the target is poorly understood. To study this, we developed a new behavioural paradigm in which mice were trained to pursue and catch a moving target displayed on a touch screen. We ensured the performance of behaviourally consistent pursuit approaches by implementing a maze-like arena design and closed-loop stimuli presentation where mice perform hundreds of trials per session. We show mice can adapt their pursuit strategy to the demands of the task by modifying their running speed and the trajectory followed to reach the target. Our research focuses on the role of midbrain structures involved in orienting behaviours. Silencing experiments aim to disentangle how the superior colliculus allows the integration of spatiotemporal features of moving sensory stimuli and links it to the execution of motor commands that guide the pursuit strategy.