51
|
Emanuel S, Kaiser M, Pflueger HJ, Libersat F. On the Role of the Head Ganglia in Posture and Walking in Insects. Front Physiol 2020; 11:135. [PMID: 32153430 PMCID: PMC7047666 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2020.00135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2019] [Accepted: 02/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
In insects, locomotion is the result of rhythm generating thoracic circuits and their modulation by sensory reflexes and by inputs from the two head ganglia, the cerebral and the gnathal ganglia (GNG), which act as higher order neuronal centers playing different functions in the initiation, goal-direction, and maintenance of movement. Current knowledge on the various roles of major neuropiles of the cerebral ganglia (CRG), such as mushroom bodies (MB) and the central complex (CX), in particular, are discussed as well as the role of the GNG. Thoracic and head ganglia circuitries are connected by ascending and descending neurons. While less is known about the ascending neurons, recent studies in large insects and Drosophila have begun to unravel the identity of descending neurons and their appropriate roles in posture and locomotion. Descending inputs from the head ganglia are most important in initiating and modulating thoracic central pattern generating circuitries to achieve goal directed locomotion. In addition, the review will also deal with some known monoaminergic descending neurons which affect the motor circuits involved in posture and locomotion. In conclusion, we will present a few issues that have, until today, been little explored. For example, how and which descending neurons are selected to engage a specific motor behavior and how feedback from thoracic circuitry modulate the head ganglia circuitries. The review will discuss results from large insects, mainly locusts, crickets, and stick insects but will mostly focus on cockroaches and the fruit fly, Drosophila.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Stav Emanuel
- Department of Life Sciences and Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheba, Israel
| | - Maayan Kaiser
- Department of Life Sciences and Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheba, Israel
| | - Hans-Joachim Pflueger
- Fachbereich Biologie Chemie Pharmazie, Institut für Biologie, Neurobiologie, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Frederic Libersat
- Department of Life Sciences and Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheba, Israel
| |
Collapse
|
52
|
Shiozaki HM, Ohta K, Kazama H. A Multi-regional Network Encoding Heading and Steering Maneuvers in Drosophila. Neuron 2020; 106:126-141.e5. [PMID: 32023429 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2020.01.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2019] [Revised: 12/11/2019] [Accepted: 01/10/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
An internal sense of heading direction is computed from various cues, including steering maneuvers of the animal. Although neurons encoding heading and steering have been found in multiple brain regions, it is unclear whether and how they are organized into neural circuits. Here we show that, in flying Drosophila, heading and turning behaviors are encoded by population dynamics of specific cell types connecting the subregions of the central complex (CX), a brain structure implicated in navigation. Columnar neurons in the fan-shaped body (FB) of the CX exhibit circular dynamics that multiplex information about turning behavior and heading. These dynamics are coordinated with those in the ellipsoid body, another CX subregion containing a heading representation, although only FB neurons flip turn preference depending on the visual environment. Thus, the navigational system spans multiple subregions of the CX, where specific cell types show coordinated but distinct context-dependent dynamics.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hiroshi M Shiozaki
- RIKEN Center for Brain Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan.
| | - Kazumi Ohta
- RIKEN Center for Brain Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
| | - Hokto Kazama
- RIKEN Center for Brain Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan; RIKEN CBS-KAO Collaboration Center, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan; Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 3-8-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8902, Japan.
| |
Collapse
|
53
|
Pickard SC, Quinn RD, Szczecinski NS. A dynamical model exploring sensory integration in the insect central complex substructures. BIOINSPIRATION & BIOMIMETICS 2020; 15:026003. [PMID: 31726442 DOI: 10.1088/1748-3190/ab57b6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
It is imperative that an animal has the ability to contextually integrate received sensory information to formulate appropriate behavioral responses. Determining a body heading based on a multitude of ego-motion cues and visual landmarks is an example of such a task that requires this context dependent integration. The work presented here simulates a sensory integrator in the insect brain called the central complex (CX). Based on the architecture of the CX, we assembled a dynamical neural simulation of two structures called the protocerebral bridge (PB) and the ellipsoid body (EB). Using non-spiking neuronal dynamics, our simulation was able to recreate in vivo neuronal behavior such as correlating body rotation direction and speed to activity bumps within the EB as well as updating the believed heading with quick secondary system updates. With this model, we performed sensitivity analysis of certain neuronal parameters as a possible means to control multi-system gains during sensory integration. We found that modulation of synapses in the memory network and EB inhibition are two possible mechanisms in which a sensory system could affect the memory stability and gain of another input, respectively. This model serves as an exploration in network design for integrating simultaneous idiothetic and allothetic cues in the task of body tracking and determining contextually dependent behavioral outputs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- S C Pickard
- Author to whom any correspondence should be addressed
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
54
|
Abstract
Many animals use an internal sense of direction to guide their movements through the world. Neurons selective to head direction are thought to support this directional sense and have been found in a diverse range of species, from insects to primates, highlighting their evolutionary importance. Across species, most head-direction networks share four key properties: a unique representation of direction at all times, persistent activity in the absence of movement, integration of angular velocity to update the representation, and the use of directional cues to correct drift. The dynamics of theorized network structures called ring attractors elegantly account for these properties, but their relationship to brain circuits is unclear. Here, we review experiments in rodents and flies that offer insights into potential neural implementations of ring attractor networks. We suggest that a theory-guided search across model systems for biological mechanisms that enable such dynamics would uncover general principles underlying head-direction circuit function.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Brad K Hulse
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, Virginia 20147, USA; ,
| | - Vivek Jayaraman
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, Virginia 20147, USA; ,
| |
Collapse
|
55
|
Currier TA, Nagel KI. Multisensory control of navigation in the fruit fly. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2019; 64:10-16. [PMID: 31841944 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2019.11.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2019] [Revised: 11/23/2019] [Accepted: 11/25/2019] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
Spatial navigation is influenced by cues from nearly every sensory modality and thus provides an excellent model for understanding how different sensory streams are integrated to drive behavior. Here we review recent work on multisensory control of navigation in the model organism Drosophila melanogaster, which allows for detailed circuit dissection. We identify four modes of integration that have been described in the literature-suppression, gating, summation, and association-and describe regions of the larval and adult brain that have been implicated in sensory integration. Finally we discuss what circuit architectures might support these different forms of integration. We argue that Drosophila is an excellent model to discover these circuit and biophysical motifs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Timothy A Currier
- Neuroscience Institute, New York University Medical Center, 435 E 30th St., New York, NY 10016, USA; Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003, USA
| | - Katherine I Nagel
- Neuroscience Institute, New York University Medical Center, 435 E 30th St., New York, NY 10016, USA; Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
56
|
Stolz T, Diesner M, Neupert S, Hess ME, Delgado-Betancourt E, Pflüger HJ, Schmidt J. Descending octopaminergic neurons modulate sensory-evoked activity of thoracic motor neurons in stick insects. J Neurophysiol 2019; 122:2388-2413. [DOI: 10.1152/jn.00196.2019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Neuromodulatory neurons located in the brain can influence activity in locomotor networks residing in the spinal cord or ventral nerve cords of invertebrates. How inputs to and outputs of neuromodulatory descending neurons affect walking activity is largely unknown. With the use of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry and immunohistochemistry, we show that a population of dorsal unpaired median (DUM) neurons descending from the gnathal ganglion to thoracic ganglia of the stick insect Carausius morosus contains the neuromodulatory amine octopamine. These neurons receive excitatory input coupled to the legs’ stance phases during treadmill walking. Inputs did not result from connections with thoracic central pattern-generating networks, but, instead, most are derived from leg load sensors. In excitatory and inhibitory retractor coxae motor neurons, spike activity in the descending DUM (desDUM) neurons increased depolarizing reflexlike responses to stimulation of leg load sensors. In these motor neurons, descending octopaminergic neurons apparently functioned as components of a positive feedback network mainly driven by load-detecting sense organs. Reflexlike responses in excitatory extensor tibiae motor neurons evoked by stimulations of a femur-tibia movement sensor either are increased or decreased or were not affected by the activity of the descending neurons, indicating different functions of desDUM neurons. The increase in motor neuron activity is often accompanied by a reflex reversal, which is characteristic for actively moving animals. Our findings indicate that some descending octopaminergic neurons can facilitate motor activity during walking and support a sensory-motor state necessary for active leg movements. NEW & NOTEWORTHY We investigated the role of descending octopaminergic neurons in the gnathal ganglion of stick insects. The neurons become active during walking, mainly triggered by input from load sensors in the legs rather than pattern-generating networks. This report provides novel evidence that octopamine released by descending neurons on stimulation of leg sense organs contributes to the modulation of leg sensory-evoked activity in a leg motor control system.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Stolz
- Departments of Biology and Animal Physiology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Max Diesner
- Department of Biology, Institute of Zoology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Susanne Neupert
- Department of Biology, Institute of Zoology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Martin E. Hess
- Departments of Biology and Animal Physiology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | | | - Hans-Joachim Pflüger
- Institute für Biologie und Neurobiologie, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Joachim Schmidt
- Departments of Biology and Animal Physiology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
57
|
Serra PA, Arrigo P, Bacciu A, Zuncheddu D, Deliperi R, Antón Viana D, Monti P, Varoni MV, Sotgiu MA, Bandiera P, Rocchitta G. Real-time telemetry monitoring of oxygen in the central complex of freely-walking Gromphadorhina portentosa. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0224932. [PMID: 31710629 PMCID: PMC6844484 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0224932] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2019] [Accepted: 10/24/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
A new telemetric system for the electrochemical monitoring of dissolved oxygen is showed. The device, connected with two amperometric sensors, has been successfully applied to the wireless detection of the extracellular oxygen in the central complex of freely-walking Gromphadorhina portentosa. The unit was composed of a potentiostat, a two-channel sensor conditioning circuit, a microprocessor module, and a wireless serial transceiver. The amperometric signals were digitalized and sent to a notebook using a 2.4 GHz transceiver while a serial-to-USB converter was connected to a second transceiver for completing the communication bridge. The software, running on the laptop, allowed to save and graph the oxygen signals. The electronics showed excellent stability and the acquired data was linear in a range comprised between 0 and -165 nA, covering the entire range of oxygen concentrations. A series of experiments were performed to explore the dynamics of dissolved oxygen by exposing the animals to different gases (nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide), to low temperature and anesthetic agents (chloroform and triethylamine). The resulting data are in agreement with previous O2 changes recorded in the brain of awake rats and mice. The proposed system, based on simple and inexpensive components, can constitute a new experimental model for the exploration of central complex neurochemistry and it can also work with oxidizing sensors and amperometric biosensors.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Pier Andrea Serra
- Department of Medical, Surgical and Experimental Medicine, Medical School, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy
- Institute of Sciences of Food Production, Italian National Research Council, Sassari, Italy
- Mediterranean Center for Disease Control, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy
- * E-mail:
| | - Paola Arrigo
- Department of Medical, Surgical and Experimental Medicine, Medical School, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy
| | - Andrea Bacciu
- Department of Medical, Surgical and Experimental Medicine, Medical School, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy
| | - Daniele Zuncheddu
- Department of Medical, Surgical and Experimental Medicine, Medical School, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy
| | - Riccardo Deliperi
- Department of Medical, Surgical and Experimental Medicine, Medical School, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy
| | - Diego Antón Viana
- Department of Medical, Surgical and Experimental Medicine, Medical School, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy
| | - Patrizia Monti
- Department of Medical, Surgical and Experimental Medicine, Medical School, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy
| | - Maria Vittoria Varoni
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, Medical School, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy
| | | | - Pasquale Bandiera
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Medical School, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy
| | - Gaia Rocchitta
- Department of Medical, Surgical and Experimental Medicine, Medical School, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy
- Mediterranean Center for Disease Control, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
58
|
von Hadeln J, Hensgen R, Bockhorst T, Rosner R, Heidasch R, Pegel U, Quintero Pérez M, Homberg U. Neuroarchitecture of the central complex of the desert locust: Tangential neurons. J Comp Neurol 2019; 528:906-934. [PMID: 31625611 DOI: 10.1002/cne.24796] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2019] [Revised: 10/10/2019] [Accepted: 10/11/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The central complex (CX) comprises a group of midline neuropils in the insect brain, consisting of the protocerebral bridge (PB), the upper (CBU) and lower division (CBL) of the central body and a pair of globular noduli. It receives prominent input from the visual system and plays a major role in spatial orientation of the animals. Vertical slices and horizontal layers of the CX are formed by columnar, tangential, and pontine neurons. While pontine and columnar neurons have been analyzed in detail, especially in the fruit fly and desert locust, understanding of the organization of tangential cells is still rudimentary. As a basis for future functional studies, we have studied the morphologies of tangential neurons of the CX of the desert locust Schistocerca gregaria. Intracellular dye injections revealed 43 different types of tangential neuron, 8 of the PB, 5 of the CBL, 24 of the CBU, 2 of the noduli, and 4 innervating multiple substructures. Cell bodies of these neurons were located in 11 different clusters in the cell body rind. Judging from the presence of fine versus beaded terminals, the vast majority of these neurons provide input into the CX, especially from the lateral complex (LX), the superior protocerebrum, the posterior slope, and other surrounding brain areas, but not directly from the mushroom bodies. Connections are largely subunit- and partly layer-specific. No direct connections were found between the CBU and the CBL. Instead, both subdivisions are connected in parallel with the PB and distinct layers of the noduli.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Joss von Hadeln
- Fachbereich Biologie, Tierphysiologie, and Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany
| | - Ronja Hensgen
- Fachbereich Biologie, Tierphysiologie, and Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany
| | - Tobias Bockhorst
- Fachbereich Biologie, Tierphysiologie, and Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany
| | - Ronny Rosner
- Fachbereich Biologie, Tierphysiologie, and Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany
| | - Ronny Heidasch
- Fachbereich Biologie, Tierphysiologie, and Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany
| | - Uta Pegel
- Fachbereich Biologie, Tierphysiologie, and Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany
| | - Manuel Quintero Pérez
- Fachbereich Biologie, Tierphysiologie, and Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany
| | - Uwe Homberg
- Fachbereich Biologie, Tierphysiologie, and Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
59
|
Abstract
Continuously monitoring its position in space relative to a goal is one of the most essential tasks for an animal that moves through its environment. Species as diverse as rats, bees, and crabs achieve this by integrating all changes of direction with the distance covered during their foraging trips, a process called path integration. They generate an estimate of their current position relative to a starting point, enabling a straight-line return, following what is known as a home vector. While in theory path integration always leads the animal precisely back home, in the real world noise limits the usefulness of this strategy when operating in isolation. Noise results from stochastic processes in the nervous system and from unreliable sensory information, particularly when obtaining heading estimates. Path integration, during which angular self-motion provides the sole input for encoding heading (idiothetic path integration), results in accumulating errors that render this strategy useless over long distances. In contrast, when using an external compass this limitation is avoided (allothetic path integration). Many navigating insects indeed rely on external compass cues for estimating body orientation, whereas they obtain distance information by integration of steps or optic-flow-based speed signals. In the insect brain, a region called the central complex plays a key role for path integration. Not only does the central complex house a ring-attractor network that encodes head directions, neurons responding to optic flow also converge with this circuit. A neural substrate for integrating direction and distance into a memorized home vector has therefore been proposed in the central complex. We discuss how behavioral data and the theoretical framework of path integration can be aligned with these neural data.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Allen Cheung
- The University of Queensland, Queensland Brain Institute, Upland Road, St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
60
|
Abstract
What do a burly rower, a backstroke swimmer and a hard-working South African dung beetle all have in common? The answer is: they all benefit from moving along a straight path, and do so moving backwards. This, however, is where the similarity ends. While the rower has solved this navigational challenge by handing the task of steering to the coxswain, who faces the direction of travel, and the swimmer is guided down her lane by colourful ropes, the beetle puts its faith in the sky. From here, it utilises a larger repertoire of celestial compass cues than is known to be used by any other animal studied to date. A robust internal compass, designed to interpret directional information, has evolved under the selective pressure of shifting today's lunch efficiently out of reach of competitors, also drawn to the common buffet. While this is a goal that beetles might share with the hungry athletes, they reach it with drastically different brain powers; the brain of the beetle is several times smaller than a match head, containing fewer than a million neurons.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Marie Dacke
- Lund Vision Group, Department of Biology, Lund University, 22362 Sweden.
| | - Basil El Jundi
- Emmy Noether Animal Navigation Group, Zoology II, Biocenter, University of Wuerzburg, 97074 Germany.
| |
Collapse
|
61
|
Schmitz J, Gruhn M, Büschges A. Body side-specific changes in sensorimotor processing of movement feedback in a walking insect. J Neurophysiol 2019; 122:2173-2186. [PMID: 31553676 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00436.2019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Feedback from load and movement sensors can modify timing and magnitude of the motor output in the stepping stick insect. One source of feedback is stretch reception by the femoral chordotonal organ (fCO), which encodes such parameters as the femorotibial (FTi) joint angle, the angular velocity, and its acceleration. Stimulation of the fCO causes a postural resistance reflex, during quiescence, and can elicit the opposite, so-called active reaction (AR), which assists ongoing flexion during active movements. In the present study, we investigated the role of fCO feedback for the difference in likelihood of generating ARs on the inside vs. the outside during curve stepping. We analyzed the effects of fCO stimulation on the motor output to the FTi and the neighboring coxa-trochanter and thorax-coxa joints of the middle leg. In inside and outside turns, the probability for ARs increases with increasing starting angle and decreasing stimulus velocity; furthermore, it is independent of the total angular excursion. However, the transition between stance and swing motor activity always occurs after a specific angular excursion, independent of the turning direction. Feedback from the fCO also has an excitatory influence on levator trochanteris motoneurons (MNs) during inside and outside turns, whereas the same feedback affects protractor coxae MNs only during outside steps. Our results suggest joint- and body side-dependent processing of fCO feedback. A shift in gain may be responsible for different AR probabilities between inside and outside turning, whereas the general control mechanism for ARs is unchanged.NEW & NOTEWORTHY We show that parameters of movement feedback from the tibia in an insect during curve walking are processed in a body side-specific manner, and how. From our results it is highly conceivable that the difference in motor response to the feedback supports the body side-specific leg kinematics during turning. Future studies will need to determine the source for the inputs that determine the local changes in sensory-motor processing.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Joscha Schmitz
- Department for Animal Physiology, Institute for Zoology, Biocenter Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Matthias Gruhn
- Department for Animal Physiology, Institute for Zoology, Biocenter Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Ansgar Büschges
- Department for Animal Physiology, Institute for Zoology, Biocenter Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
62
|
Green J, Vijayan V, Mussells Pires P, Adachi A, Maimon G. A neural heading estimate is compared with an internal goal to guide oriented navigation. Nat Neurosci 2019; 22:1460-1468. [PMID: 31332373 PMCID: PMC7688015 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-019-0444-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2019] [Accepted: 06/04/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Goal-directed navigation is thought to rely on the activity of head-direction cells, but how this activity guides moment-to-moment action remains poorly understood. Here we characterize how heading neurons in the Drosophila central complex guide moment-to-moment actions. We establish an innate, heading-neuron dependent, tethered navigational behavior where walking flies maintain a straight trajectory along a specific angular bearing for hundreds of body lengths. While flies perform this task, we use chemogenetics to transiently rotate their neural heading estimate and observe that the flies slow down and turn in a direction that aims to return the heading estimate to the angle it occupied prior to stimulation. These results support a working model in which the fly brain quantitatively compares an internal estimate of current heading with an internal goal heading and uses the sign and magnitude of the difference to determine which way to turn, how hard to turn, and how fast to walk forward.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan Green
- Laboratory of Integrative Brain Function and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA.,Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Vikram Vijayan
- Laboratory of Integrative Brain Function and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Peter Mussells Pires
- Laboratory of Integrative Brain Function and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Atsuko Adachi
- Laboratory of Integrative Brain Function and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Gaby Maimon
- Laboratory of Integrative Brain Function and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
63
|
Bertsch DJ, Martin JP, Svenson GJ, Ritzmann RE. Predatory behavior changes with satiety or increased insulin levels in the praying mantis ( Tenodera sinensis). ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2019; 222:jeb.197673. [PMID: 31160429 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.197673] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2019] [Accepted: 05/10/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
At any given moment, behavior is controlled by a combination of external stimuli and an animal's internal state. As physiological conditions change, vastly different behaviors might result from the same stimuli. For example, the motivation to hunt and hunting strategy are influenced by satiety. Here, we describe how sensory responsiveness and motor activity of a praying mantis (Tenodera sinensis) change as the insect feeds, leading to an altered hunting strategy. We further show that these changes can be induced by injection of insulin, which likely functions as a metabotropic indicator. Praying mantises directed their attention toward real and simulated prey less often as they fed and became sated. The range of distance and azimuth at which prey was detected decreased as did pursuit of prey, while opportunistic close-range attacks persisted. Together, these sensorimotor changes are indicative of a behavioral paradigm shift from 'pursuit' to 'ambush'. A similar effect was induced in starved praying mantises injected with 0.05 ml of 200 μg ml-1 bovine insulin. These experiments showed that insulin injection into the circulating hemolymph is sufficient to decrease prey orientation as well as in prey-directed locomotor behaviors (tracking and pursuit). The effects of prey consumption and insulin injection were similarly dose dependent. These results suggest that insulin is a signal of internal, physiological conditions that can modify responses to external stimuli. A change in hunting strategy thus results from coordinated effects of a neurohormone on a set of independent sensorimotor processes and the overall activity level of the animal.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- David J Bertsch
- Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
| | - Joshua P Martin
- Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.,Department of Biology, Colby College, Waterville, ME 04901, USA
| | - Gavin J Svenson
- Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.,Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
| | - Roy E Ritzmann
- Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
| |
Collapse
|
64
|
Collett TS. Path integration: how details of the honeybee waggle dance and the foraging strategies of desert ants might help in understanding its mechanisms. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2019; 222:222/11/jeb205187. [PMID: 31152122 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.205187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Path integration is a navigational strategy that gives an animal an estimate of its position relative to some starting point. For many decades, ingenious and probing behavioural experiments have been the only window onto the operation of path integration in arthropods. New methods have now made it possible to visualise the activity of neural circuits in Drosophila while they fly or walk in virtual reality. Studies of this kind, as well as electrophysiological recordings from single neurons in the brains of other insects, are revealing details of the neural mechanisms that control an insect's direction of travel and other aspects of path integration. The aim here is first to review the major features of path integration in foraging desert ants and honeybees, the current champion path integrators of the insect world, and second consider how the elaborate behaviour of these insects might be accommodated within the framework of the newly understood neural circuits. The discussion focuses particularly on the ability of ants and honeybees to use a celestial compass to give direction in Earth-based coordinates, and of honeybees to use a landscape panorama to provide directional guidance for path integration. The possibility is raised that well-ordered behaviour might in some cases substitute for complex circuitry.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Thomas S Collett
- School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QG, UK
| |
Collapse
|
65
|
Kathman ND, Fox JL. Representation of Haltere Oscillations and Integration with Visual Inputs in the Fly Central Complex. J Neurosci 2019; 39:4100-4112. [PMID: 30877172 PMCID: PMC6529865 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1707-18.2019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2018] [Revised: 01/28/2019] [Accepted: 01/30/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The reduced hindwings of flies, known as halteres, are specialized mechanosensory organs that detect body rotations during flight. Primary afferents of the haltere encode its oscillation frequency linearly over a wide bandwidth and with precise phase-dependent spiking. However, it is not currently known whether information from haltere primary afferent neurons is sent to higher brain centers where sensory information about body position could be used in decision making, or whether precise spike timing is useful beyond the peripheral circuits that drive wing movements. We show that in cells in the central brain, the timing and rates of neural spiking can be modulated by sensory input from experimental haltere movements (driven by a servomotor). Using multichannel extracellular recording in restrained flesh flies (Sarcophaga bullata of both sexes), we examined responses of central complex cells to a range of haltere oscillation frequencies alone, and in combination with visual motion speeds and directions. Haltere-responsive units fell into multiple response classes, including those responding to any haltere motion and others with firing rates linearly related to the haltere frequency. Cells with multisensory responses showed higher firing rates than the sum of the unisensory responses at higher haltere frequencies. They also maintained visual properties, such as directional selectivity, while increasing response gain nonlinearly with haltere frequency. Although haltere inputs have been described extensively in the context of rapid locomotion control, we find haltere sensory information in a brain region known to be involved in slower, higher-order behaviors, such as navigation.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Many animals use vision for navigation; however, these cues must be interpreted in the context of the body's position. In mammalian brains, hippocampal cells combine visual and vestibular information to encode head direction. A region of the arthropod brain, known as the central complex (CX), similarly encodes heading information, but it is unknown whether proprioceptive information is integrated here as well. We show that CX neurons respond to input from halteres, specialized proprioceptors in flies that detect body rotations. These neurons also respond to visual input, providing one of the few examples of multiple sensory modalities represented in individual CX cells. Haltere stimulation modifies neural responses to visual signals, providing a mechanism for integrating vision with proprioception.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas D Kathman
- Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106
| | - Jessica L Fox
- Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106
| |
Collapse
|
66
|
Dallmann CJ, Dürr V, Schmitz J. Motor control of an insect leg during level and incline walking. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2019; 222:222/7/jeb188748. [PMID: 30944163 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.188748] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2018] [Accepted: 03/04/2019] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
During walking, the leg motor system must continually adjust to changes in mechanical conditions, such as the inclination of the ground. To understand the underlying control, it is important to know how changes in leg muscle activity relate to leg kinematics (movements) and leg dynamics (forces, torques). Here, we studied these parameters in hindlegs of stick insects (Carausius morosus) during level and uphill/downhill (±45 deg) walking, using a combination of electromyography, 3D motion capture and ground reaction force measurements. We find that some kinematic parameters including leg joint angles and body height vary across walking conditions. However, kinematics vary little compared with dynamics: horizontal leg forces and torques at the thorax-coxa joint (leg protraction/retraction) and femur-tibia joint (leg flexion/extension) tend to be stronger during uphill walking and are reversed in sign during downhill walking. At the thorax-coxa joint, the different mechanical demands are met by adjustments in the timing and magnitude of antagonistic muscle activity. Adjustments occur primarily in the first half of stance after the touch-down of the leg. When insects transition from level to incline walking, the characteristic adjustments in muscle activity occur with the first step of the leg on the incline, but not in anticipation. Together, these findings indicate that stick insects adjust leg muscle activity on a step-by-step basis so as to maintain a similar kinematic pattern under different mechanical demands. The underlying control might rely primarily on feedback from leg proprioceptors signaling leg position and movement.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Chris J Dallmann
- Department of Biological Cybernetics, Bielefeld University, Universitätsstraße 25, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany .,Cognitive Interaction Technology Center of Excellence, Bielefeld University, Inspiration 1, 33619 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Volker Dürr
- Department of Biological Cybernetics, Bielefeld University, Universitätsstraße 25, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany.,Cognitive Interaction Technology Center of Excellence, Bielefeld University, Inspiration 1, 33619 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Josef Schmitz
- Department of Biological Cybernetics, Bielefeld University, Universitätsstraße 25, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany .,Cognitive Interaction Technology Center of Excellence, Bielefeld University, Inspiration 1, 33619 Bielefeld, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
67
|
Honkanen A, Adden A, da Silva Freitas J, Heinze S. The insect central complex and the neural basis of navigational strategies. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2019; 222:222/Suppl_1/jeb188854. [PMID: 30728235 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.188854] [Citation(s) in RCA: 100] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Oriented behaviour is present in almost all animals, indicating that it is an ancient feature that has emerged from animal brains hundreds of millions of years ago. Although many complex navigation strategies have been described, each strategy can be broken down into a series of elementary navigational decisions. In each moment in time, an animal has to compare its current heading with its desired direction and compensate for any mismatch by producing a steering response either to the right or to the left. Different from reflex-driven movements, target-directed navigation is not only initiated in response to sensory input, but also takes into account previous experience and motivational state. Once a series of elementary decisions are chained together to form one of many coherent navigation strategies, the animal can pursue a navigational target, e.g. a food source, a nest entrance or a constant flight direction during migrations. Insects show a great variety of complex navigation behaviours and, owing to their small brains, the pursuit of the neural circuits controlling navigation has made substantial progress over the last years. A brain region as ancient as insects themselves, called the central complex, has emerged as the likely navigation centre of the brain. Research across many species has shown that the central complex contains the circuitry that might comprise the neural substrate of elementary navigational decisions. Although this region is also involved in a wide range of other functions, we hypothesize in this Review that its role in mediating the animal's next move during target-directed behaviour is its ancestral function, around which other functions have been layered over the course of evolution.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anna Honkanen
- Lund Vision Group, Department of Biology, Lund University, 22362 Lund, Sweden
| | - Andrea Adden
- Lund Vision Group, Department of Biology, Lund University, 22362 Lund, Sweden
| | | | - Stanley Heinze
- Lund Vision Group, Department of Biology, Lund University, 22362 Lund, Sweden
| |
Collapse
|
68
|
Reches E, Knebel D, Rillich J, Ayali A, Barzel B. The Metastability of the Double-Tripod Gait in Locust Locomotion. iScience 2019; 12:53-65. [PMID: 30677739 PMCID: PMC6352547 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2019.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2018] [Revised: 11/27/2018] [Accepted: 01/02/2019] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Insect locomotion represents a fundamental example of neuronal oscillating circuits generating different motor patterns or gaits by controlling their phase coordination. Walking gaits are assumed to represent stable states of the system, often modeled as coupled oscillators. This view is challenged, however, by recent experimental observations, in which in vitro locust preparations consistently converged to synchronous rhythms (all legs oscillating as one), a locomotive pattern never seen in vivo. To reconcile this inconsistency, we developed a modeling framework to capture the trade-off between the two competing mechanisms: the endogenous neuronal circuitry, expressed in vitro, and the feedback mechanisms from sensory and descending inputs, active only in vivo. We show that the ubiquitously observed double-tripod walking gait emerges precisely from this balance. The outcome is a short-lived meta-stable double-tripod gait, which transitions and alternates with stable idling, thus recovering the observed intermittent bouts of locomotion, typical of many insects' locomotion behavior. Isolated in vitro locust preparations indicate that idling is a stable fictive gait This is in contrast to the dominant in vivo locomotive pattern (i.e., double tripod) Hence functional locomotion behavior is dependent on descending and sensory inputs The presented model generates intermittent double-tripod bouts as seen empirically
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Eran Reches
- Department of Mathematics, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel
| | - Daniel Knebel
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 69978, Israel; Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 69978, Israel
| | - Jan Rillich
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 69978, Israel
| | - Amir Ayali
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 69978, Israel; Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 69978, Israel.
| | - Baruch Barzel
- Department of Mathematics, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel.
| |
Collapse
|
69
|
Rosner R, Pegel U, Homberg U. Responses of compass neurons in the locust brain to visual motion and leg motor activity. J Exp Biol 2019; 222:jeb.196261. [DOI: 10.1242/jeb.196261] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2018] [Accepted: 03/28/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
The central complex, a group of midline neuropils in the insect brain, plays a key role in spatial orientation and navigation. Work in locusts, crickets, dung beetles, bees, and butterflies suggests that it harbors a network of neurons which determines the orientation of the insect relative to the pattern of polarized light in the blue sky. In locusts, these compass cells also respond to simulated approaching objects. Here we investigate in the locust Schistocerca gregaria whether compass cells change their activity when the animal experiences large-field visual motion or when the animal is engaged in walking behavior. We recorded intracellularly from these neurons while the tethered animals were allowed to perform walking movements on a slippery surface. We concurrently presented moving grating stimuli from the side or polarized light through a rotating polarizer from above. Large-field motion was combined with the simulation of approaching objects to evaluate whether responses differed from those presented on a stationary background. Here we show for the first time that compass cells are sensitive to large-field motion. Responses to looming stimuli were often more conspicuous during large-field motion. Walking activity influenced spiking rates at all stages of the network. The strength of responses to the plane of polarized light was affected in some compass cells during leg motor activity. The data show that signaling in compass cells of the locust central complex is modulated by visual context and locomotor activity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ronny Rosner
- Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
- Department of Biology, Animal Physiology & Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior - CMBB, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Uta Pegel
- Department of Biology, Animal Physiology & Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior - CMBB, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany
- Present address: Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | - Uwe Homberg
- Department of Biology, Animal Physiology & Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior - CMBB, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
70
|
Omoto JJ, Nguyen BCM, Kandimalla P, Lovick JK, Donlea JM, Hartenstein V. Neuronal Constituents and Putative Interactions Within the Drosophila Ellipsoid Body Neuropil. Front Neural Circuits 2018; 12:103. [PMID: 30546298 PMCID: PMC6278638 DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2018.00103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2018] [Accepted: 10/26/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The central complex (CX) is a midline-situated collection of neuropil compartments in the arthropod central brain, implicated in higher-order processes such as goal-directed navigation. Here, we provide a systematic genetic-neuroanatomical analysis of the ellipsoid body (EB), a compartment which represents a major afferent portal of the Drosophila CX. The neuropil volume of the EB, along with its prominent input compartment, called the bulb, is subdivided into precisely tessellated domains, distinguishable based on intensity of the global marker DN-cadherin. EB tangential elements (so-called ring neurons), most of which are derived from the DALv2 neuroblast lineage, predominantly interconnect the bulb and EB domains in a topographically organized fashion. Using the DN-cadherin domains as a framework, we first characterized this connectivity by Gal4 driver lines expressed in different DALv2 ring neuron (R-neuron) subclasses. We identified 11 subclasses, 6 of which correspond to previously described projection patterns, and 5 novel patterns. These subclasses both spatially (based on EB innervation pattern) and numerically (cell counts) summate to the total EB volume and R-neuron cell number, suggesting that our compilation of R-neuron subclasses approaches completion. EB columnar elements, as well as non-DALv2 derived extrinsic ring neurons (ExR-neurons), were also incorporated into this anatomical framework. Finally, we addressed the connectivity between R-neurons and their targets, using the anterograde trans-synaptic labeling method, trans-Tango. This study demonstrates putative interactions of R-neuron subclasses and reveals general principles of information flow within the EB network. Our work will facilitate the generation and testing of hypotheses regarding circuit interactions within the EB and the rest of the CX.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jaison Jiro Omoto
- Department of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Department of Neurobiology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Bao-Chau Minh Nguyen
- Department of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Pratyush Kandimalla
- Department of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Jennifer Kelly Lovick
- Department of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Jeffrey Michael Donlea
- Department of Neurobiology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Volker Hartenstein
- Department of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| |
Collapse
|
71
|
Schatton A, Agoro J, Mardink J, Leboulle G, Scharff C. Identification of the neurotransmitter profile of AmFoxP expressing neurons in the honeybee brain using double-label in situ hybridization. BMC Neurosci 2018; 19:69. [PMID: 30400853 PMCID: PMC6219247 DOI: 10.1186/s12868-018-0469-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2018] [Accepted: 10/29/2018] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND FoxP transcription factors play crucial roles for the development and function of vertebrate brains. In humans the neurally expressed FOXPs, FOXP1, FOXP2, and FOXP4 are implicated in cognition, including language. Neural FoxP expression is specific to particular brain regions but FoxP1, FoxP2 and FoxP4 are not limited to a particular neuron or neurotransmitter type. Motor- or sensory activity can regulate FoxP2 expression, e.g. in the striatal nucleus Area X of songbirds and in the auditory thalamus of mice. The DNA-binding domain of FoxP proteins is highly conserved within metazoa, raising the possibility that cellular functions were preserved across deep evolutionary time. We have previously shown in bee brains that FoxP is expressed in eleven specific neuron populations, seven tightly packed clusters and four loosely arranged groups. RESULTS The present study examined the co-expression of honeybee FoxP (AmFoxP) with markers for glutamatergic, GABAergic, cholinergic and monoaminergic transmission. We found that AmFoxP could co-occur with any one of those markers. Interestingly, AmFoxP clusters and AmFoxP groups differed with respect to homogeneity of marker co-expression; within a cluster, all neurons co-expressed the same neurotransmitter marker, within a group co-expression varied. We also assessed qualitatively whether age or housing conditions providing different sensory and motor experiences affected the AmFoxP neuron populations, but found no differences. CONCLUSIONS Based on the neurotransmitter homogeneity we conclude that AmFoxP neurons within the clusters might have a common projection and function whereas the AmFoxP groups are more diverse and could be further sub-divided. The obtained information about the neurotransmitters co-expressed in the AmFoxP neuron populations facilitated the search of similar neurons described in the literature. These comparisons revealed e.g. a possible function of AmFoxP neurons in the central complex. Our findings provide opportunities to focus future functional studies on invertebrate FoxP expressing neurons. In a broader context, our data will contribute to the ongoing efforts to discern in which cases relationships between molecular and phenotypic signatures are linked evolutionary.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Adriana Schatton
- Department of Animal Behavior, Freie Universität Berlin, Takustraße 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Julia Agoro
- Department of Animal Behavior, Freie Universität Berlin, Takustraße 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany
- Department of Neurobiology, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Straße 28-30, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Janis Mardink
- Department of Animal Behavior, Freie Universität Berlin, Takustraße 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Gérard Leboulle
- Department of Neurobiology, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Straße 28-30, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Constance Scharff
- Department of Animal Behavior, Freie Universität Berlin, Takustraße 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
72
|
Currier TA, Nagel KI. Multisensory Control of Orientation in Tethered Flying Drosophila. Curr Biol 2018; 28:3533-3546.e6. [PMID: 30393038 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.09.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2018] [Revised: 08/21/2018] [Accepted: 09/11/2018] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
A longstanding goal of systems neuroscience is to quantitatively describe how the brain integrates sensory cues over time. Here, we develop a closed-loop orienting paradigm in Drosophila to study the algorithms by which cues from two modalities are integrated during ongoing behavior. We find that flies exhibit two behaviors when presented simultaneously with an attractive visual stripe and aversive wind cue. First, flies perform a turn sequence where they initially turn away from the wind but later turn back toward the stripe, suggesting dynamic sensory processing. Second, turns toward the stripe are slowed by the presence of competing wind, suggesting summation of turning drives. We develop a model in which signals from each modality are filtered in space and time to generate turn commands and then summed to produce ongoing orienting behavior. This computational framework correctly predicts behavioral dynamics for a range of stimulus intensities and spatial arrangements.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Timothy A Currier
- Neuroscience Institute, New York University Medical Center, 435 E. 30(th) Street, New York, NY 10016, USA; Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003, USA
| | - Katherine I Nagel
- Neuroscience Institute, New York University Medical Center, 435 E. 30(th) Street, New York, NY 10016, USA; Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
73
|
Wolff T, Rubin GM. Neuroarchitecture of the Drosophila central complex: A catalog of nodulus and asymmetrical body neurons and a revision of the protocerebral bridge catalog. J Comp Neurol 2018; 526:2585-2611. [PMID: 30084503 PMCID: PMC6283239 DOI: 10.1002/cne.24512] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2018] [Revised: 06/28/2018] [Accepted: 06/29/2018] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
The central complex, a set of neuropils in the center of the insect brain, plays a crucial role in spatial aspects of sensory integration and motor control. Stereotyped neurons interconnect these neuropils with one another and with accessory structures. We screened over 5,000 Drosophila melanogaster GAL4 lines for expression in two neuropils, the noduli (NO) of the central complex and the asymmetrical body (AB), and used multicolor stochastic labeling to analyze the morphology, polarity, and organization of individual cells in a subset of the GAL4 lines that showed expression in these neuropils. We identified nine NO and three AB cell types and describe them here. The morphology of the NO neurons suggests that they receive input primarily in the lateral accessory lobe and send output to each of the six paired noduli. We demonstrate that the AB is a bilateral structure which exhibits asymmetry in size between the left and right bodies. We show that the AB neurons directly connect the AB to the central complex and accessory neuropils, that they target both the left and right ABs, and that one cell type preferentially innervates the right AB. We propose that the AB be considered a central complex neuropil in Drosophila. Finally, we present highly restricted GAL4 lines for most identified protocerebral bridge, NO, and AB cell types. These lines, generated using the split-GAL4 method, will facilitate anatomical studies, behavioral assays, and physiological experiments.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tanya Wolff
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, Virginia
| | - Gerald M Rubin
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, Virginia
| |
Collapse
|
74
|
Homberg U, Humberg TH, Seyfarth J, Bode K, Pérez MQ. GABA immunostaining in the central complex of dicondylian insects. J Comp Neurol 2018; 526:2301-2318. [DOI: 10.1002/cne.24497] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2018] [Revised: 06/26/2018] [Accepted: 06/27/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Uwe Homberg
- Faculty of Biology, Animal Physiology & Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior - CMBB; Philipps-Universität Marburg; Marburg Germany
| | - Tim-Henning Humberg
- Faculty of Biology, Animal Physiology & Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior - CMBB; Philipps-Universität Marburg; Marburg Germany
| | - Jutta Seyfarth
- Faculty of Biology, Animal Physiology & Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior - CMBB; Philipps-Universität Marburg; Marburg Germany
| | - Katharina Bode
- Faculty of Biology, Animal Physiology & Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior - CMBB; Philipps-Universität Marburg; Marburg Germany
| | - Manuel Quintero Pérez
- Faculty of Biology, Animal Physiology & Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior - CMBB; Philipps-Universität Marburg; Marburg Germany
| |
Collapse
|
75
|
Pomaville MB, Lent DD. Multiple Representations of Space by the Cockroach, Periplaneta americana. Front Psychol 2018; 9:1312. [PMID: 30104993 PMCID: PMC6077775 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01312] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2018] [Accepted: 07/09/2018] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
When cockroaches are trained to a visual–olfactory cue pairing using the antennal projection response (APR), they can form different memories for the location of a visual cue. A series of experiments, each examining memory for the spatial location of a visual cue, were performed using restrained cockroaches. The first group of experiments involved training cockroaches to associate a visual cue (CS—green LED) with an odor cue (US) in the presence or absence of a second visual reference cue (white LED). These experiments revealed that cockroaches have at least two forms of spatial memory. First, it was found that during learning, the movements of the antennae in response to the odor influenced the cockroaches’ memory. If they use only one antenna, cockroaches form a memory that results in an APR being elicited to the CS irrespective of its location in space. When using both antennae, the cockroaches resulting memory leads to an APR to the CS that is spatially confined to within 15° of the trained position. This memory represents an egocentric spatial representation. Second, the cockroaches simultaneously formed a memory for the angular spatial relationships between two visual cues when trained in the presence of a second visual reference cue. This training provided the cockroaches an allocentric representation or visual snapshot of the environment. If both egocentric and the visual snapshot were available to the cockroach to localize the learned cue, the visual snapshot determined the behavioral response in this assay. Finally, the split-brain assay was used to characterize the cockroach’s ability to establish a memory for the angular relationship between two visual cues with half a brain. Split-brain cockroaches were trained to unilaterally associate a pair of visual cues (CS—green LED and reference—white LED) with an odor cue (US). Split-brain cockroaches learned the general arrangement of the visual cues (i.e., the green LED is right of the white LED), but not the precise angular relationship. These experiments provide new insight into spatial memory processes in the cockroach.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Matthew B Pomaville
- Department of Biology, California State University, Fresno, CA, United States
| | - David D Lent
- Department of Biology, California State University, Fresno, CA, United States
| |
Collapse
|
76
|
Knebel D, Wörner J, Rillich J, Nadler L, Ayali A, Couzin-Fuchs E. The subesophageal ganglion modulates locust inter-leg sensory-motor interactions via contralateral pathways. JOURNAL OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY 2018; 107:116-124. [PMID: 29577874 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2018.03.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2018] [Revised: 03/19/2018] [Accepted: 03/21/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
The neural control of insect locomotion is distributed among various body segments. Local pattern-generating circuits at the thoracic ganglia interact with incoming sensory signals and central descending commands from the head ganglia. The evidence from different insect preparations suggests that the subesophageal ganglion (SEG) may play an important role in locomotion-related tasks. In a previous study, we demonstrated that the locust SEG modulates the coupling pattern between segmental leg CPGs in the absence of sensory feedback. Here, we investigated its role in processing and transmitting sensory information to the leg motor centers and mapped the major related neural pathways. Specifically, the intra- and inter-segmental transfer of leg-feedback were studied by simultaneously monitoring motor responses and descending signals from the SEG. Our findings reveal a crucial role of the SEG in the transfer of intersegmental, but not intrasegmental, signals. Additional lesion experiments, in which the intersegmental connectives were cut at different locations, together with double nerve staining, indicated that sensory signals are mainly transferred to the SEG via the connective contralateral to the stimulated leg. We therefore suggest that, similar to data reported for vertebrates, insect leg sensory-motor loops comprise contralateral ascending pathways to the head and ipsilateral descending ones.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Knebel
- School of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Johanna Wörner
- Department of Biology, Universität Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Jan Rillich
- School of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Institute for Biology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Leonard Nadler
- Institut für Biologie, Neurobiologie, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Amir Ayali
- School of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | | |
Collapse
|
77
|
Szczecinski NS, Quinn RD. Leg-local neural mechanisms for searching and learning enhance robotic locomotion. BIOLOGICAL CYBERNETICS 2018; 112:99-112. [PMID: 28782078 DOI: 10.1007/s00422-017-0726-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2017] [Accepted: 07/30/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Adapting motor output based on environmental forces is critical for successful locomotion in the real world. Arthropods use at least two neural mechanisms to adjust muscle activation while walking based on detected forces. Mechanism 1 uses negative feedback of leg depressor force to ensure that each stance leg supports an appropriate amount of the body's weight. Mechanism 2 encourages searching for ground contact if the leg supports no body weight. We expand the neural controller for MantisBot, a robot based upon a praying mantis, to include these mechanisms by incorporating leg-local memory and command neurons, as observed in arthropods. We present results from MantisBot transitioning between searching and stepping, mimicking data from animals as reported in the literature.
Collapse
|
78
|
Zhang X, Foderaro G, Henriquez C, Ferrari S. A Scalable Weight-Free Learning Algorithm for Regulatory Control of Cell Activity in Spiking Neuronal Networks. Int J Neural Syst 2018; 28:1750015. [DOI: 10.1142/s0129065717500150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Recent developments in neural stimulation and recording technologies are providing scientists with the ability of recording and controlling the activity of individual neurons in vitro or in vivo, with very high spatial and temporal resolution. Tools such as optogenetics, for example, are having a significant impact in the neuroscience field by delivering optical firing control with the precision and spatiotemporal resolution required for investigating information processing and plasticity in biological brains. While a number of training algorithms have been developed to date for spiking neural network (SNN) models of biological neuronal circuits, exiting methods rely on learning rules that adjust the synaptic strengths (or weights) directly, in order to obtain the desired network-level (or functional-level) performance. As such, they are not applicable to modifying plasticity in biological neuronal circuits, in which synaptic strengths only change as a result of pre- and post-synaptic neuron firings or biological mechanisms beyond our control. This paper presents a weight-free training algorithm that relies solely on adjusting the spatiotemporal delivery of neuron firings in order to optimize the network performance. The proposed weight-free algorithm does not require any knowledge of the SNN model or its plasticity mechanisms. As a result, this training approach is potentially realizable in vitro or in vivo via neural stimulation and recording technologies, such as optogenetics and multielectrode arrays, and could be utilized to control plasticity at multiple scales of biological neuronal circuits. The approach is demonstrated by training SNNs with hundreds of units to control a virtual insect navigating in an unknown environment.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xu Zhang
- Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Duke University, Box 90300 Hudson Hall, Durham, NC, US
| | - Greg Foderaro
- Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Duke University, Box 90300 Hudson Hall, Durham, NC, US
| | - Craig Henriquez
- Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Box 90281 Hudson Hall, Durham, 27708, US
| | - Silvia Ferrari
- Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, 105 Upson Hall, Ithaca, New York, 14853, US
| |
Collapse
|
79
|
Donlea JM, Pimentel D, Talbot CB, Kempf A, Omoto JJ, Hartenstein V, Miesenböck G. Recurrent Circuitry for Balancing Sleep Need and Sleep. Neuron 2018; 97:378-389.e4. [PMID: 29307711 PMCID: PMC5779612 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2017.12.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 111] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2017] [Revised: 10/13/2017] [Accepted: 12/07/2017] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Sleep-promoting neurons in the dorsal fan-shaped body (dFB) of Drosophila are integral to sleep homeostasis, but how these cells impose sleep on the organism is unknown. We report that dFB neurons communicate via inhibitory transmitters, including allatostatin-A (AstA), with interneurons connecting the superior arch with the ellipsoid body of the central complex. These "helicon cells" express the galanin receptor homolog AstA-R1, respond to visual input, gate locomotion, and are inhibited by AstA, suggesting that dFB neurons promote rest by suppressing visually guided movement. Sleep changes caused by enhanced or diminished allatostatinergic transmission from dFB neurons and by inhibition or optogenetic stimulation of helicon cells support this notion. Helicon cells provide excitation to R2 neurons of the ellipsoid body, whose activity-dependent plasticity signals rising sleep pressure to the dFB. By virtue of this autoregulatory loop, dFB-mediated inhibition interrupts processes that incur a sleep debt, allowing restorative sleep to rebalance the books. VIDEO ABSTRACT.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey M Donlea
- Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University of Oxford, Tinsley Building, Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3SR, UK; Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1763, USA.
| | - Diogo Pimentel
- Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University of Oxford, Tinsley Building, Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3SR, UK
| | - Clifford B Talbot
- Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University of Oxford, Tinsley Building, Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3SR, UK
| | - Anissa Kempf
- Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University of Oxford, Tinsley Building, Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3SR, UK
| | - Jaison J Omoto
- Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1763, USA; Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA
| | - Volker Hartenstein
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA
| | - Gero Miesenböck
- Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University of Oxford, Tinsley Building, Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3SR, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
80
|
Abstract
The discovery of fossilized brains and ventral nerve cords in lower and mid-Cambrian arthropods has led to crucial insights about the evolution of their central nervous system, the segmental identity of head appendages and the early evolution of eyes and their underlying visual systems. Fundamental ground patterns of lower Cambrian arthropod brains and nervous systems correspond to the ground patterns of brains and nervous systems belonging to three of four major extant panarthropod lineages. These findings demonstrate the evolutionary stability of early neural arrangements over an immense time span. Here, we put these fossil discoveries in the context of evidence from cladistics, as well as developmental and comparative neuroanatomy, which together suggest that despite many evolved modifications of neuropil centers within arthropod brains and ganglia, highly conserved arrangements have been retained. Recent phylogenies of the arthropods, based on fossil and molecular evidence, and estimates of divergence dates, suggest that neural ground patterns characterizing onychophorans, chelicerates and mandibulates are likely to have diverged between the terminal Ediacaran and earliest Cambrian, heralding the exuberant diversification of body forms that account for the Cambrian Explosion.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas J Strausfeld
- Department of Neuroscience and Center for Insect Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
| | - Xiaoya Ma
- Department of Earth Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK; Yunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, People's Republic of China
| | - Gregory D Edgecombe
- Department of Earth Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
81
|
Abstract
The purpose of this work is to better understand how animals control locomotion. This knowledge can then be applied to neuromechanical design to produce more capable and adaptable robot locomotion. To test hypotheses about animal motor control, we model animals and their nervous systems with dynamical simulations, which we call synthetic nervous systems (SNS). However, one major challenge is picking parameter values that produce the intended dynamics. This paper presents a design process that solves this problem without the need for global optimization. We test this method by selecting parameter values for SimRoach2, a dynamical model of a cockroach. Each leg joint is actuated by an antagonistic pair of Hill muscles. A distributed SNS was designed based on pathways known to exist in insects, as well as hypothetical pathways that produced insect-like motion. Each joint’s controller was designed to function as a proportional-integral (PI) feedback loop and tuned with numerical optimization. Once tuned, SimRoach2 walks through a simulated environment, with several cockroach-like features. A model with such reliable low-level performance is necessary to investigate more sophisticated locomotion patterns in the future.
Collapse
|
82
|
Barron AB, Plath JA. The evolution of honey bee dance communication: a mechanistic perspective. J Exp Biol 2017; 220:4339-4346. [DOI: 10.1242/jeb.142778] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Honey bee dance has been intensively studied as a communication system, and yet we still know very little about the neurobiological mechanisms supporting how dances are produced and interpreted. Here, we discuss how new information on the functions of the central complex (CX) of the insect brain might shed some light on possible neural mechanisms of dance behaviour. We summarise the features of dance communication across the species of the genus Apis. We then propose that neural mechanisms of orientation and spatial processing found to be supported by the CX may function in dance communication also, and that this mechanistic link could explain some specific features of the dance form. This is purely a hypothesis, but in proposing this hypothesis, and how it might be investigated, we hope to stimulate new mechanistic analyses of dance communication.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Andrew B. Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
| | - Jenny Aino Plath
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, 78464 Konstanz, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
83
|
Heinze S. Unraveling the neural basis of insect navigation. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2017; 24:58-67. [PMID: 29208224 PMCID: PMC6186168 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2017.09.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2017] [Revised: 09/05/2017] [Accepted: 09/08/2017] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
One of the defining features of animals is their ability to navigate their environment. Using behavioral experiments this topic has been under intense investigation for nearly a century. In insects, this work has largely focused on the remarkable homing abilities of ants and bees. More recently, the neural basis of navigation shifted into the focus of attention. Starting with revealing the neurons that process the sensory signals used for navigation, in particular polarized skylight, migratory locusts became the key species for delineating navigation-relevant regions of the insect brain. Over the last years, this work was used as a basis for research in the fruit fly Drosophila and extraordinary progress has been made in illuminating the neural underpinnings of navigational processes. With increasingly detailed understanding of navigation circuits, we can begin to ask whether there is a fundamentally shared concept underlying all navigation behavior across insects. This review highlights recent advances and puts them into the context of the behavioral work on ants and bees, as well as the circuits involved in polarized-light processing. A region of the insect brain called the central complex emerges as the common substrate for guiding navigation and its highly organized neuroarchitecture provides a framework for future investigations potentially suited to explain all insect navigation behavior at the level of identified neurons.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Stanley Heinze
- Lund University, Department of Biology, Lund Vision Group, Sölvegatan 35, 22362 Lund, Sweden.
| |
Collapse
|
84
|
Donlea JM. Neuronal and molecular mechanisms of sleep homeostasis. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2017; 24:51-57. [PMID: 29208223 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2017.09.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2017] [Revised: 09/13/2017] [Accepted: 09/13/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Sleep is necessary for survival, and prolonged waking causes a homeostatic increase in the need for recovery sleep. Homeostasis is a core component of sleep regulation and has been tightly conserved across evolution from invertebrates to man. Homeostatic sleep regulation was first identified among insects in cockroaches several decades ago, but the characterization of sleep rebound in Drosophila melanogaster opened the use of insect model species to understand homeostatic functions and regulation of sleep. This review describes circuits in two neuropil structures, the central complex and mushroom bodies, that influence sleep homeostasis and neuromodulatory systems that influence the accrual of homeostatic sleep need.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey M Donlea
- Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1763, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
85
|
Grob R, Fleischmann PN, Grübel K, Wehner R, Rössler W. The Role of Celestial Compass Information in Cataglyphis Ants during Learning Walks and for Neuroplasticity in the Central Complex and Mushroom Bodies. Front Behav Neurosci 2017; 11:226. [PMID: 29184487 PMCID: PMC5694495 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2017.00226] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2017] [Accepted: 10/30/2017] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Central place foragers are faced with the challenge to learn the position of their nest entrance in its surroundings, in order to find their way back home every time they go out to search for food. To acquire navigational information at the beginning of their foraging career, Cataglyphis noda performs learning walks during the transition from interior worker to forager. These small loops around the nest entrance are repeatedly interrupted by strikingly accurate back turns during which the ants stop and precisely gaze back to the nest entrance—presumably to learn the landmark panorama of the nest surroundings. However, as at this point the complete navigational toolkit is not yet available, the ants are in need of a reference system for the compass component of the path integrator to align their nest entrance-directed gazes. In order to find this directional reference system, we systematically manipulated the skylight information received by ants during learning walks in their natural habitat, as it has been previously suggested that the celestial compass, as part of the path integrator, might provide such a reference system. High-speed video analyses of distinct learning walk elements revealed that even exclusion from the skylight polarization pattern, UV-light spectrum and the position of the sun did not alter the accuracy of the look back to the nest behavior. We therefore conclude that C. noda uses a different reference system to initially align their gaze directions. However, a comparison of neuroanatomical changes in the central complex and the mushroom bodies before and after learning walks revealed that exposure to UV light together with a naturally changing polarization pattern was essential to induce neuroplasticity in these high-order sensory integration centers of the ant brain. This suggests a crucial role of celestial information, in particular a changing polarization pattern, in initially calibrating the celestial compass system.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Robin Grob
- Behavioral Physiology and Sociobiology (Zoology II), Biozentrum, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Pauline N Fleischmann
- Behavioral Physiology and Sociobiology (Zoology II), Biozentrum, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Kornelia Grübel
- Behavioral Physiology and Sociobiology (Zoology II), Biozentrum, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Rüdiger Wehner
- Brain Research Institute, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Wolfgang Rössler
- Behavioral Physiology and Sociobiology (Zoology II), Biozentrum, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
86
|
Bidaye SS, Bockemühl T, Büschges A. Six-legged walking in insects: how CPGs, peripheral feedback, and descending signals generate coordinated and adaptive motor rhythms. J Neurophysiol 2017; 119:459-475. [PMID: 29070634 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00658.2017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 83] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Walking is a rhythmic locomotor behavior of legged animals, and its underlying mechanisms have been the subject of neurobiological research for more than 100 years. In this article, we review relevant historical aspects and contemporary studies in this field of research with a particular focus on the role of central pattern generating networks (CPGs) and their contribution to the generation of six-legged walking in insects. Aspects of importance are the generation of single-leg stepping, the generation of interleg coordination, and how descending signals influence walking. We first review how CPGs interact with sensory signals from the leg in the generation of leg stepping. Next, we summarize how these interactions are modified in the generation of motor flexibility for forward and backward walking, curve walking, and speed changes. We then review the present state of knowledge with regard to the role of CPGs in intersegmental coordination and how CPGs might be involved in mediating descending influences from the brain for the initiation, maintenance, modification, and cessation of the motor output for walking. Throughout, we aim to specifically address gaps in knowledge, and we describe potential future avenues and approaches, conceptual and methodological, with the latter emphasizing in particular options arising from the advent of neurogenetic approaches to this field of research and its combination with traditional approaches.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Salil S Bidaye
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California
| | - Till Bockemühl
- Department of Animal Physiology, Zoological Institute, University of Cologne , Cologne , Germany
| | - Ansgar Büschges
- Department of Animal Physiology, Zoological Institute, University of Cologne , Cologne , Germany
| |
Collapse
|
87
|
Collett M, Collett TS. Path Integration: Combining Optic Flow with Compass Orientation. Curr Biol 2017; 27:R1113-R1116. [PMID: 29065292 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.09.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
The discovery of translational optic flow detectors in the central complex of a bee has inspired a new model of path integration.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Matthew Collett
- Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QG, UK.
| | - Thomas S Collett
- School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QG, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
88
|
Stone T, Webb B, Adden A, Weddig NB, Honkanen A, Templin R, Wcislo W, Scimeca L, Warrant E, Heinze S. An Anatomically Constrained Model for Path Integration in the Bee Brain. Curr Biol 2017; 27:3069-3085.e11. [PMID: 28988858 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.08.052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 191] [Impact Index Per Article: 27.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2017] [Revised: 07/24/2017] [Accepted: 08/21/2017] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
Path integration is a widespread navigational strategy in which directional changes and distance covered are continuously integrated on an outward journey, enabling a straight-line return to home. Bees use vision for this task-a celestial-cue-based visual compass and an optic-flow-based visual odometer-but the underlying neural integration mechanisms are unknown. Using intracellular electrophysiology, we show that polarized-light-based compass neurons and optic-flow-based speed-encoding neurons converge in the central complex of the bee brain, and through block-face electron microscopy, we identify potential integrator cells. Based on plausible output targets for these cells, we propose a complete circuit for path integration and steering in the central complex, with anatomically identified neurons suggested for each processing step. The resulting model circuit is thus fully constrained biologically and provides a functional interpretation for many previously unexplained architectural features of the central complex. Moreover, we show that the receptive fields of the newly discovered speed neurons can support path integration for the holonomic motion (i.e., a ground velocity that is not precisely aligned with body orientation) typical of bee flight, a feature not captured in any previously proposed model of path integration. In a broader context, the model circuit presented provides a general mechanism for producing steering signals by comparing current and desired headings-suggesting a more basic function for central complex connectivity, from which path integration may have evolved.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Stone
- School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Barbara Webb
- School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Andrea Adden
- Lund Vision Group, Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | | | - Anna Honkanen
- Lund Vision Group, Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Rachel Templin
- Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
| | - William Wcislo
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama
| | - Luca Scimeca
- School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Eric Warrant
- Lund Vision Group, Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Stanley Heinze
- Lund Vision Group, Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
| |
Collapse
|
89
|
Hoke KL, Hebets EA, Shizuka D. Neural Circuitry for Target Selection and Action Selection in Animal Behavior. Integr Comp Biol 2017; 57:808-819. [DOI: 10.1093/icb/icx109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
|
90
|
Shiozaki HM, Kazama H. Parallel encoding of recent visual experience and self-motion during navigation in Drosophila. Nat Neurosci 2017; 20:1395-1403. [PMID: 28869583 DOI: 10.1038/nn.4628] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2017] [Accepted: 07/26/2017] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Animal navigation requires multiple types of information for decisions on directional heading. We identified neural processing channels that encode multiple cues during navigational decision-making in Drosophila melanogaster. In a flight simulator, we found that flies made directional choices on the basis of the location of a recently presented landmark. This experience-guided navigation was impaired by silencing neurons in the bulb (BU), a region in the central brain. Two-photon calcium imaging during flight revealed that the dorsal part of the BU encodes the location of a recent landmark, whereas the ventral part of the BU tracks self-motion reflecting turns. Photolabeling-based circuit tracing indicated that these functional compartments of the BU constitute adjacent, yet distinct, anatomical pathways that both enter the navigation center. Thus, the fly's navigation system organizes multiple types of information in parallel channels, which may compactly transmit signals without interference for decision-making during flight.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Hokto Kazama
- RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Saitama, Japan.,Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
91
|
de Vries L, Pfeiffer K, Trebels B, Adden AK, Green K, Warrant E, Heinze S. Comparison of Navigation-Related Brain Regions in Migratory versus Non-Migratory Noctuid Moths. Front Behav Neurosci 2017; 11:158. [PMID: 28928641 PMCID: PMC5591330 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2017.00158] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2017] [Accepted: 08/15/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Brain structure and function are tightly correlated across all animals. While these relations are ultimately manifestations of differently wired neurons, many changes in neural circuit architecture lead to larger-scale alterations visible already at the level of brain regions. Locating such differences has served as a beacon for identifying brain areas that are strongly associated with the ecological needs of a species-thus guiding the way towards more detailed investigations of how brains underlie species-specific behaviors. Particularly in relation to sensory requirements, volume-differences in neural tissue between closely related species reflect evolutionary investments that correspond to sensory abilities. Likewise, memory-demands imposed by lifestyle have revealed similar adaptations in regions associated with learning. Whether this is also the case for species that differ in their navigational strategy is currently unknown. While the brain regions associated with navigational control in insects have been identified (central complex (CX), lateral complex (LX) and anterior optic tubercles (AOTU)), it remains unknown in what way evolutionary investments have been made to accommodate particularly demanding navigational strategies. We have thus generated average-shape atlases of navigation-related brain regions of a migratory and a non-migratory noctuid moth and used volumetric analysis to identify differences. We further compared the results to identical data from Monarch butterflies. Whereas we found differences in the size of the nodular unit of the AOTU, the LX and the protocerebral bridge (PB) between the two moths, these did not unambiguously reflect migratory behavior across all three species. We conclude that navigational strategy, at least in the case of long-distance migration in lepidopteran insects, is not easily deductible from overall neuropil anatomy. This suggests that the adaptations needed to ensure successful migratory behavior are found in the detailed wiring characteristics of the neural circuits underlying navigation-differences that are only accessible through detailed physiological and ultrastructural investigations. The presented results aid this task in two ways. First, the identified differences in neuropil volumes serve as promising initial targets for electrophysiology. Second, the new standard atlases provide an anatomical reference frame for embedding all functional data obtained from the brains of the Bogong and the Turnip moth.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Liv de Vries
- Lund Vision Group, Department of Biology, Lund UniversityLund, Sweden
| | - Keram Pfeiffer
- Department of Biology, Marburg UniversityMarburg, Germany
| | - Björn Trebels
- Department of Biology, Marburg UniversityMarburg, Germany
| | - Andrea K Adden
- Lund Vision Group, Department of Biology, Lund UniversityLund, Sweden
| | - Ken Green
- New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife ServiceJindabyne, NSW, Australia
| | - Eric Warrant
- Lund Vision Group, Department of Biology, Lund UniversityLund, Sweden
| | - Stanley Heinze
- Lund Vision Group, Department of Biology, Lund UniversityLund, Sweden
| |
Collapse
|
92
|
Szczecinski NS, Getsy AP, Martin JP, Ritzmann RE, Quinn RD. Mantisbot is a robotic model of visually guided motion in the praying mantis. ARTHROPOD STRUCTURE & DEVELOPMENT 2017; 46:736-751. [PMID: 28302586 DOI: 10.1016/j.asd.2017.03.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2016] [Revised: 02/24/2017] [Accepted: 03/11/2017] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Insects use highly distributed nervous systems to process exteroception from head sensors, compare that information with state-based goals, and direct posture or locomotion toward those goals. To study how descending commands from brain centers produce coordinated, goal-directed motion in distributed nervous systems, we have constructed a conductance-based neural system for our robot MantisBot, a 29 degree-of-freedom, 13.3:1 scale praying mantis robot. Using the literature on mantis prey tracking and insect locomotion, we designed a hierarchical, distributed neural controller that establishes the goal, coordinates different joints, and executes prey-tracking motion. In our controller, brain networks perceive the location of prey and predict its future location, store this location in memory, and formulate descending commands for ballistic saccades like those seen in the animal. The descending commands are simple, indicating only 1) whether the robot should walk or stand still, and 2) the intended direction of motion. Each joint's controller uses the descending commands differently to alter sensory-motor interactions, changing the sensory pathways that coordinate the joints' central pattern generators into one cohesive motion. Experiments with one leg of MantisBot show that visual input produces simple descending commands that alter walking kinematics, change the walking direction in a predictable manner, enact reflex reversals when necessary, and can control both static posture and locomotion with the same network.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas S Szczecinski
- Case Western Reserve University, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, USA.
| | - Andrew P Getsy
- Case Western Reserve University, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, USA
| | | | - Roy E Ritzmann
- Case Western Reserve University, Department of Biology, USA
| | - Roger D Quinn
- Case Western Reserve University, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, USA
| |
Collapse
|
93
|
Fiore VG, Kottler B, Gu X, Hirth F. In silico Interrogation of Insect Central Complex Suggests Computational Roles for the Ellipsoid Body in Spatial Navigation. Front Behav Neurosci 2017; 11:142. [PMID: 28824390 PMCID: PMC5540904 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2017.00142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2017] [Accepted: 07/18/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The central complex in the insect brain is a composite of midline neuropils involved in processing sensory cues and mediating behavioral outputs to orchestrate spatial navigation. Despite recent advances, however, the neural mechanisms underlying sensory integration and motor action selections have remained largely elusive. In particular, it is not yet understood how the central complex exploits sensory inputs to realize motor functions associated with spatial navigation. Here we report an in silico interrogation of central complex-mediated spatial navigation with a special emphasis on the ellipsoid body. Based on known connectivity and function, we developed a computational model to test how the local connectome of the central complex can mediate sensorimotor integration to guide different forms of behavioral outputs. Our simulations show integration of multiple sensory sources can be effectively performed in the ellipsoid body. This processed information is used to trigger continuous sequences of action selections resulting in self-motion, obstacle avoidance and the navigation of simulated environments of varying complexity. The motor responses to perceived sensory stimuli can be stored in the neural structure of the central complex to simulate navigation relying on a collective of guidance cues, akin to sensory-driven innate or habitual behaviors. By comparing behaviors under different conditions of accessible sources of input information, we show the simulated insect computes visual inputs and body posture to estimate its position in space. Finally, we tested whether the local connectome of the central complex might also allow the flexibility required to recall an intentional behavioral sequence, among different courses of actions. Our simulations suggest that the central complex can encode combined representations of motor and spatial information to pursue a goal and thus successfully guide orientation behavior. Together, the observed computational features identify central complex circuitry, and especially the ellipsoid body, as a key neural correlate involved in spatial navigation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Vincenzo G Fiore
- School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, University of Texas at DallasDallas, TX, United States
| | - Benjamin Kottler
- Department of Basic & Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College LondonLondon, United Kingdom
| | - Xiaosi Gu
- School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, University of Texas at DallasDallas, TX, United States
| | - Frank Hirth
- Department of Basic & Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College LondonLondon, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
94
|
Szczecinski NS, Quinn RD. Template for the neural control of directed stepping generalized to all legs of MantisBot. BIOINSPIRATION & BIOMIMETICS 2017; 12:045001. [PMID: 28422047 DOI: 10.1088/1748-3190/aa6dd9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
We previously developed a neural controller for one leg of our six-legged robot, MantisBot, that could direct locomotion toward a goal by modulating leg-local reflexes with simple descending commands from a head sensor. In this work, we successfully apply an automated method to tune the control network for all three pairs of legs of our hexapod robot MantisBot in only 90 s with a desktop computer. Each foot's motion changes appropriately as the body's intended direction of travel changes. In addition, several results from studies of walking insects are captured by this model. This paper both demonstrates the broad applicability of this control method for robots, and suggests neural mechanisms underlying observations from walking insects.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas S Szczecinski
- Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106, United States of America
| | | |
Collapse
|
95
|
Plath JA, Entler BV, Kirkerud NH, Schlegel U, Galizia CG, Barron AB. Different Roles for Honey Bee Mushroom Bodies and Central Complex in Visual Learning of Colored Lights in an Aversive Conditioning Assay. Front Behav Neurosci 2017; 11:98. [PMID: 28611605 PMCID: PMC5447682 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2017.00098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2017] [Accepted: 05/09/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The honey bee is an excellent visual learner, but we know little about how and why it performs so well, or how visual information is learned by the bee brain. Here we examined the different roles of two key integrative regions of the brain in visual learning: the mushroom bodies and the central complex. We tested bees' learning performance in a new assay of color learning that used electric shock as punishment. In this assay a light field was paired with electric shock. The other half of the conditioning chamber was illuminated with light of a different wavelength and not paired with shocks. The unrestrained bee could run away from the light stimulus and thereby associate one wavelength with punishment, and the other with safety. We compared learning performance of bees in which either the central complex or mushroom bodies had been transiently inactivated by microinjection of the reversible anesthetic procaine. Control bees learned to escape the shock-paired light field and to spend more time in the safe light field after a few trials. When ventral lobe neurons of the mushroom bodies were silenced, bees were no longer able to associate one light field with shock. By contrast, silencing of one collar region of the mushroom body calyx did not alter behavior in the learning assay in comparison to control treatment. Bees with silenced central complex neurons did not leave the shock-paired light field in the middle trials of training, even after a few seconds of being shocked. We discussed how mushroom bodies and the central complex both contribute to aversive visual learning with an operant component.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jenny A Plath
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie UniversitySydney, NSW, Australia.,Department of Biology, University of KonstanzKonstanz, Germany
| | - Brian V Entler
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie UniversitySydney, NSW, Australia.,Department of Biology, University of ScrantonScranton, PA, United States
| | - Nicholas H Kirkerud
- Department of Biology, University of KonstanzKonstanz, Germany.,International Max-Planck Research School for Organismal Biology, University of KonstanzKonstanz, Germany
| | - Ulrike Schlegel
- Department of Biology, University of KonstanzKonstanz, Germany.,Department of Biosciences, University of OsloOslo, Norway
| | | | - Andrew B Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie UniversitySydney, NSW, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
96
|
Balvantray Bhavsar M, Stumpner A, Heinrich R. Brain regions for sound processing and song release in a small grasshopper. JOURNAL OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY 2017; 99:15-24. [PMID: 28285921 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2017.03.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2016] [Revised: 03/08/2017] [Accepted: 03/08/2017] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
We investigated brain regions - mostly neuropils - that process auditory information relevant for the initiation of response songs of female grasshoppers Chorthippus biguttulus during bidirectional intraspecific acoustic communication. Male-female acoustic duets in the species Ch. biguttulus require the perception of sounds, their recognition as a species- and gender-specific signal and the initiation of commands that activate thoracic pattern generating circuits to drive the sound-producing stridulatory movements of the hind legs. To study sensory-to-motor processing during acoustic communication we used multielectrodes that allowed simultaneous recordings of acoustically stimulated electrical activity from several ascending auditory interneurons or local brain neurons and subsequent electrical stimulation of the recording site. Auditory activity was detected in the lateral protocerebrum (where most of the described ascending auditory interneurons terminate), in the superior medial protocerebrum and in the central complex, that has previously been implicated in the control of sound production. Neural responses to behaviorally attractive sound stimuli showed no or only poor correlation with behavioral responses. Current injections into the lateral protocerebrum, the central complex and the deuto-/tritocerebrum (close to the cerebro-cervical fascicles), but not into the superior medial protocerebrum, elicited species-typical stridulation with high success rate. Latencies and numbers of phrases produced by electrical stimulation were different between these brain regions. Our results indicate three brain regions (likely neuropils) where auditory activity can be detected with two of these regions being potentially involved in song initiation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mit Balvantray Bhavsar
- University of Göttingen, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach-Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, Department of Cellular Neurobiology, Julia Lermontowa-Weg 3, D-37077 Göttingen, Germany.
| | - Andreas Stumpner
- University of Göttingen, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach-Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, Department of Cellular Neurobiology, Julia Lermontowa-Weg 3, D-37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Ralf Heinrich
- University of Göttingen, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach-Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, Department of Cellular Neurobiology, Julia Lermontowa-Weg 3, D-37077 Göttingen, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
97
|
Goldschmidt D, Manoonpong P, Dasgupta S. A Neurocomputational Model of Goal-Directed Navigation in Insect-Inspired Artificial Agents. Front Neurorobot 2017; 11:20. [PMID: 28446872 PMCID: PMC5388780 DOI: 10.3389/fnbot.2017.00020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2016] [Accepted: 03/24/2017] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite their small size, insect brains are able to produce robust and efficient navigation in complex environments. Specifically in social insects, such as ants and bees, these navigational capabilities are guided by orientation directing vectors generated by a process called path integration. During this process, they integrate compass and odometric cues to estimate their current location as a vector, called the home vector for guiding them back home on a straight path. They further acquire and retrieve path integration-based vector memories globally to the nest or based on visual landmarks. Although existing computational models reproduced similar behaviors, a neurocomputational model of vector navigation including the acquisition of vector representations has not been described before. Here we present a model of neural mechanisms in a modular closed-loop control—enabling vector navigation in artificial agents. The model consists of a path integration mechanism, reward-modulated global learning, random search, and action selection. The path integration mechanism integrates compass and odometric cues to compute a vectorial representation of the agent's current location as neural activity patterns in circular arrays. A reward-modulated learning rule enables the acquisition of vector memories by associating the local food reward with the path integration state. A motor output is computed based on the combination of vector memories and random exploration. In simulation, we show that the neural mechanisms enable robust homing and localization, even in the presence of external sensory noise. The proposed learning rules lead to goal-directed navigation and route formation performed under realistic conditions. Consequently, we provide a novel approach for vector learning and navigation in a simulated, situated agent linking behavioral observations to their possible underlying neural substrates.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Dennis Goldschmidt
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Third Institute of Physics - Biophysics, Georg-August UniversityGöttingen, Germany.,Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme, Champalimaud Centre for the UnknownLisbon, Portugal
| | - Poramate Manoonpong
- Embodied AI and Neurorobotics Lab, Centre of BioRobotics, The Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Institute, University of Southern DenmarkOdense, Denmark
| | | |
Collapse
|
98
|
Immonen EV, Dacke M, Heinze S, El Jundi B. Anatomical organization of the brain of a diurnal and a nocturnal dung beetle. J Comp Neurol 2017; 525:1879-1908. [PMID: 28074466 DOI: 10.1002/cne.24169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2016] [Revised: 12/14/2016] [Accepted: 12/21/2016] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
To avoid the fierce competition for food, South African ball-rolling dung beetles carve a piece of dung off a dung-pile, shape it into a ball and roll it away along a straight line path. For this unidirectional exit from the busy dung pile, at night and day, the beetles use a wide repertoire of celestial compass cues. This robust and relatively easily measurable orientation behavior has made ball-rolling dung beetles an attractive model organism for the study of the neuroethology behind insect orientation and sensory ecology. Although there is already some knowledge emerging concerning how celestial cues are processed in the dung beetle brain, little is known about its general neural layout. Mapping the neuropils of the dung beetle brain is thus a prerequisite to understand the neuronal network that underlies celestial compass orientation. Here, we describe and compare the brains of a day-active and a night-active dung beetle species based on immunostainings against synapsin and serotonin. We also provide 3D reconstructions for all brain areas and many of the fiber bundles in the brain of the day-active dung beetle. Comparison of neuropil structures between the two dung beetle species revealed differences that reflect adaptations to different light conditions. Altogether, our results provide a reference framework for future studies on the neuroethology of insects in general and dung beetles in particular.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Esa-Ville Immonen
- Nano and Molecular Systems Research Unit, Faculty of Science, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.,Lund Vision Group, Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Marie Dacke
- Nano and Molecular Systems Research Unit, Faculty of Science, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - Stanley Heinze
- Nano and Molecular Systems Research Unit, Faculty of Science, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - Basil El Jundi
- Nano and Molecular Systems Research Unit, Faculty of Science, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| |
Collapse
|
99
|
Thoen HH, Marshall J, Wolff GH, Strausfeld NJ. Insect-Like Organization of the Stomatopod Central Complex: Functional and Phylogenetic Implications. Front Behav Neurosci 2017; 11:12. [PMID: 28223924 PMCID: PMC5294995 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2017.00012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2016] [Accepted: 01/13/2017] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
One approach to investigating functional attributes of the central complex is to relate its various elaborations to pancrustacean phylogeny, to taxon-specific behavioral repertoires and ecological settings. Here we review morphological similarities between the central complex of stomatopod crustaceans and the central complex of dicondylic insects. We discuss whether their central complexes possess comparable functional properties, despite the phyletic distance separating these taxa, with mantis shrimp (Stomatopoda) belonging to the basal branch of Eumalacostraca. Stomatopods possess the most elaborate visual receptor system in nature and display a fascinating behavioral repertoire, including refined appendicular dexterity such as independently moving eyestalks. They are also unparalleled in their ability to maneuver during both swimming and substrate locomotion. Like other pancrustaceans, stomatopods possess a set of midline neuropils, called the central complex, which in dicondylic insects have been shown to mediate the selection of motor actions for a range of behaviors. As in dicondylic insects, the stomatopod central complex comprises a modular protocerebral bridge (PB) supplying decussating axons to a scalloped fan-shaped body (FB) and its accompanying ellipsoid body (EB), which is linked to a set of paired noduli and other recognized satellite regions. We consider the functional implications of these attributes in the context of stomatopod behaviors, particularly of their eyestalks that can move independently or conjointly depending on the visual scene.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hanne H Thoen
- Sensory Neurobiology Group, Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, St. Lucia Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Justin Marshall
- Sensory Neurobiology Group, Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, St. Lucia Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | | | - Nicholas J Strausfeld
- Department of Neuroscience, School of Mind, Brain and Behavior, University of Arizona Tucson, AZ, USA
| |
Collapse
|
100
|
Büschges A. Controlling the 'simple' - descending signals from the brainstem command the sign of a stretch reflex in a vertebrate spinal cord. J Physiol 2017; 595:625-626. [PMID: 28145003 PMCID: PMC5285624 DOI: 10.1113/jp273352] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Ansgar Büschges
- Institute for ZoologyBiocenter CologneUniversity of CologneZülpicher Strasse 47BD‐50674CologneGermany
| |
Collapse
|