Publications

2024

Axelrod CJ*, Urquhart EM*, Mahabir PN, Carlson BA**, Gordon SP** (In Press) Diversity of intraspecific patterns of brain region size covariation in fish. Integrative and Comparative Biology. https://academic.oup.com/icb/advance-article/doi/10.1093/icb/icae075/7695301. *These authors have contributed equally to this work; **These authors have contributed equally to this work.

Yang Y, Axelrod C, Grant E, Earl S, Urquhart EM, Talbert K, Johnson LE, Walker Z, Hsiao K, Stone I, Carlson BA, Lopez-Sepulcre A, Gordon SP (In Press) Evolutionary divergence of developmental plasticity and learning of mating strategies in Trinidadian guppies. Journal of Animal Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.14043.

Fukutomi M, Carlson BA (In Press) Coordinated changes in sensorimotor integration underlie behavioral change through evolution and plasticity: a case study in weakly electric mormyrid fish. Science Progress 107: 1-8. [PDF]

Axelrod CJ, Yang Y, Grant E, Fleming J, Stone I, Carlson BA, Gordon SP (2024) Evolutionary divergence of plasticity in brain morphology between ecologically divergent habitats of Trinidadian guppies. Evolution 78: 1261-1274. [PDF]

2023

Fukutomi M, Carlson BA (2023) Hormonal coordination of motor output and internal prediction of sensory consequences in an electric fish. Current Biology 33: 3350-3359. [PDF] [IndiaEducationDiary.com] [Phys.org] [Washington University]

Axelrod CJ, Gordon SP, Carlson BA (2023) Integrating neuroplasticity and evolution. Current Biology 33: R288-R293. [PDF]

Lube AJ, Ma X, Carlson BA (2023) Spike-timing-dependent plasticity alters electrosensory neuron synaptic strength in vitro, but does not consistently predict changes in sensory tuning in vivo. Journal of Neurophysiology 129:1127-1144. [PDF]

Carlson BA (2023) Weakly electric fishes and auditory processing. Acoustics Today 19: 12-20. [open access]

2022

Schumacher EL, Carlson BA (2022) Convergent mosaic brain evolution is associated with the evolution of novel electrosensory systems in teleost fishes. eLife 11: e74159. [open access]

2021

Kohashi T, Lube AJ, Yang JH, Roberts-Gaddipati P, Carlson BA (2021) Pauses during communication release behavioral habituation through recovery from synaptic depression. Current Biology 31: 3145-3152. [PDF] [Read the Dispatch from Pedraja & Sawtell] [The Atlantic] [Science Friday] [St. Louis Public Radio] [Cosmos] [Science Alert] [Nature World News] [Futurity] [Science Daily] [SciTech Daily] [Newswise] [Phys.org] [PennLive] [Washington University]

2020

Fukutomi M, Carlson BA (2020) Signal diversification is associated with corollary discharge evolution in weakly electric fish. The Journal of Neuroscience 40: 6345-6356. [PDF] [Phys.org] [Science Daily] [Futurity] [Technology Networks] [Fish Focus] [Washington University]

Fukutomi M, Carlson BA (2020) A history of corollary discharge: Contributions of mormyrid weakly electric fish. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience 14: 42.  [open access]

Picq S, Sperling JS, Cheng C, Carlson BA, Gallant JR (2020) Genetic drift does not sufficiently explain patterns of electric signal variation among populations of the mormyrid electric fish Paramormyrops kingsleyae. Evolution 74: 911-935. [PDF].

2019

Carlson BA, Sisneros JA, Popper AN, Fay RR (2019) Electroreception: Fundamental Insights from Comparative Approaches. Springer, 367 pp. [link]

Carlson BA (2019) Evolution of sub-millisecond temporal coding in vertebrate electrosensory and auditory systems. In: Carlson BA, Sisneros JA, Popper AN, Fay RR (eds) Electroreception: Fundamental Insights from Comparative Approaches. Springer, pp 279-314. [link]

Carlson BA, Sisneros JA (2019) A Brief History of Electrogenesis and Electroreception in Fishes. In: Carlson BA, Sisneros JA, Popper AN, Fay RR (eds) Electroreception: Fundamental Insights from Comparative Approaches. Springer, pp 1-23. [link]

Sukhum KV, Freiler MK, Carlson BA (2019) Intraspecific energetic trade-offs and costs of encephalization vary from interspecific relationships in three species of mormyrid electric fishes. Brain Behavior and Evolution 93: 196-205.  [PDF]

Baker CA, Carlson BA (2019) Electric signals. In: Choe JC (ed) Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior, 2nd ed. Elsevier, pp 474-486. [PDF]

2018

Sukhum KV, Shen J, Carlson BA (2018) Extreme enlargement of the cerebellum in a clade of teleost fishes that evolved a novel active sensory system. Current Biology 28: 1-7. [PDF] [Phys.org] [Science Daily] [Earth.com] [Futurity] [Washington University]

Vélez A, Ryoo D, Carlson BA (2018) Sensory specializations of mormyrid fishes are associated with species differences in electric signal localization behavior. Brain Behavior and Evolution 92: 125-141.  [PDF]

2017

Carlson BA (2017) Early life experiences have complex and long-lasting effects on behavior. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 114: 11571-1573. [PDF]

Vélez A, Kohashi T, Lu A, Carlson BA (2017) The cellular and circuit basis for evolutionary change in sensory perception in mormyrid fishes. Scientific Reports 7: 3783. [open access]

2016

Sukhum KV, Freiler MK, Wang R, Carlson BA (2016) The costs of a big brain: extreme encephalization results in higher energetic demand and reduced hypoxia tolerance in weakly electric African fishes. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 283: 20162157. [PDF] [Supplement] [United Press International] [Neuroscience News] [Phys.org] [Science Daily]  [Medical News Today] [Tech Times] [Jerusalem Post] [NSF] [Washington University]

Baker CA, Ma L, Casareale C, Carlson BA (2016) Behavioral and single-neuron sensitivity to millisecond variations in temporally patterned communication signals. The Journal of Neuroscience 36: 8985-9000. [PDF]

Vélez A, Carlson BA (2016) Detection of transient synchrony across oscillating receptors by the central electrosensory system of mormyrid fish. eLife 5: e16851. [open access]

Carlson BA (2016) Differences in electrosensory anatomy and social behavior in an area of sympatry between two species of mormyrid electric fishes. Journal of Experimental Biology 219: 31-43. [PDF]

2015

Baker CA, Huck KR, Carlson BA (2015) Peripheral sensory coding through oscillatory synchrony in weakly electric fish. eLife 4: e08163. [open access] [Washington University] [Eurekalert] [Phys.org] [Electronics Weekly] [Newswise] [Futurity] [redOrbit]

Carlson BA (2015) Animal behavior: Electric eels amp up for an easy meal. Current Biology 25: R1070-R1072. [PDF]

2014

Baker CA, Carlson BA (2014) Short-term depression, temporal summation, and onset inhibition shape interval tuning in midbrain neurons. The Journal of Neuroscience 34: 14272-14287. [PDF]

Kohashi T, Carlson BA (2014) A fast BK-type K_Ca current acts as a postsynaptic modulator of temporal selectivity for communication signals. Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience 8: 286. [open access]

2013

Lyons-Warren AM, Kohashi T, Mennerick S, Carlson BA (2013) Detection of submillisecond spike timing differences based on delay-line anti-coincidence detection. Journal of Neurophysiology 110: 2295-2311. [PDF]

Stevens JA, Sukhum KV, Carlson BA (2013) Independent evolution of visual and electrosensory specializations in different lineages of mormyrid electric fishes. Brain Behavior and Evolution 82: 185-198. [editor’s choice open access]

Carlson BA,Gallant JR (2013) From sequence to spike to spark: Evo-devo-neuroethology of electric communication in mormyrid fishes. Journal of Neurogenetics 27: 106-129. [PDF]

Ma X, Kohashi T, Carlson BA (2013) Extensive excitatory network interactions shape temporal processing of communication signals in a model sensory system. Journal of Neurophysiology 110: 456-469. [PDF]

Baker CA, Kohashi T, Lyons-Warren AM, Ma X, Carlson BA (2013) Multiplexed temporal coding of electric communication signals in mormyrid fishes. The Journal of Experimental Biology 216: 2365-2379. [PDF] [Inside JEB]

Lyons-Warren AM, Kohashi T, Mennerick S, Carlson BA (2013) Retrograde fluorescent labeling allows for targeted extracellular single-unit recording from identified neurons in vivo. Journal of Visualized Experiments 76: e3921. [open access]

2012

Klug A, Borst JGG, Carlson BA, Kopp-Scheinpflug C, Klyachko VA, Xu-Friedman MA (2012) How do short-term changes at synapses fine-tune information processing? The Journal of Neuroscience 32: 14058-14063. [PDF]

Lyons-Warren AM, Hollmann M, Carlson BA (2012) Sensory receptor diversity establishes a peripheral population code for stimulus duration at low intensities. The Journal of Experimental Biology 215: 2586-2600. [PDF]

Carlson BA (2012) Diversity matters: The importance of comparative studies and the potential for synergy between neuroscience and evolutionary biology. Archives of Neurology 69: 987-993. [PDF] [Read the critique by Hansen & Greek, followed by my response]

Tricas TC, Carlson BA (2012) Electroreceptors and magnetoreceptors. In: Sperelakis N (ed) Cell Physiology Sourcebook, 4th ed. Elsevier, pp 705-725. [PDF]

2011

Carlson BA, Hasan SM, Hollmann M, Miller DB, Harmon LJ, Arnegard ME (2011) Brain evolution triggers increased diversification of electric fishes. Science 332: 583-586. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] [Supplement]  [Science] [Discover] [National Geographic] [Science News] [Science Daily] [Phys.org] [The Naked Scientists] [Washington University] [Eurekalert] [Wired] [redOrbit] [Futurity] [Gizmodo] [io9]

George AA, Lyons-Warren AM, Ma X, Carlson BA (2011) A diversity of synaptic filters are created by temporal summation of excitation and inhibition. The Journal of Neuroscience 31: 14721-14734. [PDF]

Carlson BA, Arnegard ME (2011) Neural innovations and the diversification of African weakly electric fishes. Communicative & Integrative Biology 4: 720-725. [open access]

Gallant JR, Arnegard ME, Sullivan JP, Carlson BA, Hopkins CD (2011). Signal variation and its morphological correlates in Paramormyrops kingsleyae provide insight into the evolution of electrogenic signal diversity in mormyrid electric fish. Journal of Comparative Physiology A 197: 799-817. [PDF] [Supplement]

Carlson BA (2011) Detection and generation of electric signals in fishes: An introduction. In: Farrell AP (ed) Encyclopedia of Fish Physiology: From Genome to Environment. Academic Press, Vol. 1 pp. 347-349. [PDF]

2009

Carlson BA (2009) Temporal-pattern recognition by single neurons in a sensory pathway devoted to social communication behavior. The Journal of Neuroscience 29: 9417-9428. [PDF]  [This Week in the Journal]

Carlson BA (2009) Temporal coding in electroreception. In: Binder MD, Hirokawa N, Windhorst U, Hirsch MC (eds) Encyclopedia of Neuroscience. Springer, pp 4039-4044. [PDF]

Carlson BA (2009) Reafferent control in electric communication. In: Binder MD, Hirokawa N, Windhorst U, Hirsch MC (eds) Encyclopedia of Neuroscience. Springer, pp 3368-3373. [PDF]

2005-2008

Carlson BA, Kawasaki M (2008) From stimulus estimation to combination sensitivity: Encoding and processing of amplitude and timing information in parallel, convergent sensory pathways. Journal of Computational Neuroscience 25: 1-24. [PDF]

Carlson BA (2008) Phantoms in the brain: Ambiguous representations of stimulus amplitude and timing in weakly electric fish. Journal of Physiology – Paris 102: 209-222. [PDF]

Carlson BA, Kawasaki M (2007) Behavioral responses to jamming and ‘phantom’ jamming stimuli in the weakly electric fish Eigenmannia. Journal of Comparative Physiology A 193: 927-941. [PDF]

Carlson BA, Kawasaki M (2006) Stimulus selectivity is enhanced by voltage-dependent conductances in combination-sensitive neurons. Journal of Neurophysiology 96: 3362-3377. [PDF] [Models available at Yale ModelDB]

Carlson BA, Kawasaki M (2006) Ambiguous encoding of stimuli by primary sensory afferents causes a lack of independence in the perception of multiple stimulus attributes. The Journal of Neuroscience 26: 9173-9183. [PDF] [Models available at Yale ModelDB]

Carlson BA (2006) A neuroethology of electrocommunication: Senders, receivers, and everything in between. In: Ladich F, Collin SP, Moller P, Kapoor BG (eds) Communication in Fishes. Science Publishers, pp 805-848. [PDF]

Caputi AA, Carlson BA, Macadar O (2005) Electric organs and their control. In: Bullock TH, Hopkins CD, Popper A, Fay RR (eds) Electroreception. Springer, pp 410-451. [PDF]

Arnegard ME, Carlson BA (2005) Electric organ discharge patterns during group hunting by a mormyrid fish. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 272: 1305-1314. [PDF] [Wissenschaft Online]

2000-2004

Carlson BA, Kawasaki M (2004) Nonlinear response properties of combination-sensitive electrosensory neurons in the midbrain of Gymnarchus niloticus. The Journal of Neuroscience 24: 8039-8048. [PDF]  [This Week in the Journal]

Carlson BA, Hopkins CD (2004) Stereotyped temporal patterns in electrical communication. Animal Behaviour 68: 867-878. [PDF]

Carlson BA, Hopkins CD (2004) Central control of electric signaling behavior in the mormyrid Brienomyrus brachyistius: Segregation of behavior-specific inputs and the role of modifiable recurrent inhibition. The Journal of Experimental Biology 207: 1073-1084. [PDF] [Inside JEB]

Carlson BA (2003) Single-unit activity patterns in nuclei that control the electromotor command nucleus during spontaneous electric signal production in the mormyrid Brienomyrus brachyistius. The Journal of Neuroscience 23: 10128-10136. [PDF]

Carlson BA (2002) Neuroanatomy of the mormyrid electromotor control system. The Journal of Comparative Neurology 454: 440-455. [PDF]

Carlson BA (2002) Electric signaling behavior and the mechanisms of electric organ discharge production in mormyrid fish. Journal of Physiology – Paris 96: 403-417. [PDF]

Carlson BA, Hopkins CD, Thomas P (2000) Androgen correlates of socially induced changes in the electric organ discharge waveform of a mormyrid fish. Hormones and Behavior 38: 177-186. [PDF]

Carlson BA, Bass AH (2000) Sonic/vocal motor pathways in squirrelfish (Teleostei, Holocentridae).Brain Behavior and Evolution 56: 14-28. [PDF]