Long-range temporal anti-correlations in paddlefish electroreceptors

The paddlefish perceives its world through an array of electroreceptor orga ns spread over its rostrum. Using Detrended-Fluctuation Analysis (DFA) we n d long-range anticorrelations in sequences of time intervals between neural action potentials recorded from spontaneously ring electroreceptor afferen ts. In contrast, spontaneous discharges from mechanoreceptor afferents in t he crayfish tailfan lack long-range correlations altogether. We interpret t his finding as a consequence of the self-sustained oscillatory nature of th e electroreceptor organ compared with the threshold-type dynamics of the me chanoreceptor.