fish2eod : finite element modelling of active electric sensing

Understanding the neural basis of animal behavior requires a thorough description of the associated sensory inputs. This is especially important when behavior actively shapes incoming sensory information. Weakly electric fish use perturbations in a self-generated electric field as a basis for an electric sense; and these field perturbations are encoded by electroreceptors distributed over their bodies. Thus, swimming movements and body pose not only shape the field but also the orientation of the receptor array. Previous modelling in this context has focused primarily on the so-called electric image in stationary fish and has not addressed how natural electrosensory inputs are generated in freely swimming fish. Here, we present fish2eod, an open-source finite-element-based modelling framework that describes the dynamics of electrosensory inputs during natural behaviors, including social interactions, in complex environments.