Dr Kendra Arkley (Research Fellow)

Contact

Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TP, UK.

Summary

I am a Research Fellow in the ATL@S Research Group, currently funded by the EPSRC. My research investigates vibrissal active touch sensing strategies in rats by using high-speed videography to observe the fine and fast-moving whiskers. Specifically, I explore the extent to which whisker sensing is active by demonstrating that contextual variables (e.g. availability of visual cues, presence of obstacles) alter the way in which the rat moves and positions its whiskers. I argue that these changes in whisking strategy arise as a result of a higher-order cognitive process - conceivably attention, and (by analogising with eye movements), that all observed whisker movements (and gross behaviour) may be explained using one key variable - the attended to region of space.

Research Interests

Behavioural neuroethology
High-speed videography
Active touch sensing strategies
Whisking and locomotion
Whisking and climbing
Comparative studies of whisking control
The relationship between whisker and eye movements
The whiskers as a window into attentional processing

Publications

2014

Arkley, K.P., Grant, R.A., Mitchinson, B. & Prescott, T.J. (2014), Strategy Change in Vibrissal Active Sensing during Rat Locomotion, Current Biology, 24(13):1507-12.

2012

Arkley KP, Grant RA, Mitchinson B, Prescott TJ (2012), The relationship between locomotion and whisker touch sensing behaviours in the adult rat is mediated by familiarity with the environment, SFN New Orleans, Soc. Neurosci. Abstracts 884.06.

2011

Arkley KP, Grant RA, Mitchinson B, Prescott TJ (2011), The relationship between whisking and locomotion in rats, SFN Washington, Soc. Neurosci. Abstracts 76.24.
Prescott TJ, Grant RA, Arkley KP, Rankov V, Mitchinson B (2011), Did early mammals have active vibrissal touch? Evidence from a comparative study of exploratory whisking in rat, mouse and opossum (Monodelphis domestica), SFN Washington, Soc. Neurosci. Abstracts 76.23.
Ben Mitchinson, Robyn A. Grant, Kendra Arkley, Vladan Rankov, Igor Perkon and Tony J. Prescott (2011), Active vibrissal sensing in rodents and marsupials, Philosophical Transactions Royal Society B, 366(1581):3037-3048.