1
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Pratt BG, Lee SYJ, Chou GM, Tuthill JC. Miniature linear and split-belt treadmills reveal mechanisms of adaptive motor control in walking Drosophila. Curr Biol 2024:S0960-9822(24)01082-0. [PMID: 39216486 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.08.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2024] [Revised: 07/08/2024] [Accepted: 08/05/2024] [Indexed: 09/04/2024]
Abstract
To navigate complex environments, walking animals must detect and overcome unexpected perturbations. One technical challenge when investigating adaptive locomotion is measuring behavioral responses to precise perturbations during naturalistic walking; another is that manipulating neural activity in sensorimotor circuits often reduces spontaneous locomotion. To overcome these obstacles, we introduce miniature treadmill systems for coercing locomotion and tracking 3D kinematics of walking Drosophila. By systematically comparing walking in three experimental setups, we show that flies compelled to walk on the linear treadmill have similar stepping kinematics to freely walking flies, while kinematics of tethered walking flies are subtly different. Genetically silencing mechanosensory neurons altered step kinematics of flies walking on the linear treadmill across all speeds. We also discovered that flies can maintain a forward heading on a split-belt treadmill by specifically adapting the step distance of their middle legs. These findings suggest that proprioceptive feedback contributes to leg motor control irrespective of walking speed and that the fly's middle legs play a specialized role in stabilizing locomotion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brandon G Pratt
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Su-Yee J Lee
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Grant M Chou
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - John C Tuthill
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
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2
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Bogossian PM, Pereira JS, da Silva NF, Hilgert AR, Seidel SRT, Fülber J, Belli CB, Fernandes WR. Social facilitation of trotting: Can horses perceive and adapt to the movement of another horse? PLoS One 2024; 19:e0309474. [PMID: 39186726 PMCID: PMC11346917 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0309474] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2024] [Accepted: 08/13/2024] [Indexed: 08/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Exercise intensity is prone to be self-regulated in horses exercising freely. The main drivers include social, feeding and escape behaviors, as well as the operant conditioning. We hypothesized that self-regulated exercise intensity may increase due to the presence of another horse exercising ahead. Seven horses were assigned to a 2x2 crossover trial following treadmill familiarization. Video images of a trotting horse were displayed on the wall in front of the experimental unit (Visual), which was positioned in the treadmill. Physiological and behavioral markers were further compared with a control visual stimulus (Co), comprising a racetrack image without horses. Horses were sampled during a constant load exercise test (1) at rest (baseline), (2) after the warm-up (0 - 10th minute) and (3) after visual stimulation or control (10th- 12th minutes of the SET) to quantify plasma lactate and glucose concentration, heart rate, head angle, as well as behavioral markers. Following visual stimulation, heart rate (130.8 ± 27.8 b.p.m.) was higher than control (84.7 ± 15.1 b.p.m., P = .017), as was plasma lactate (Visual - 5.28 ± 1.48 mg/dl; Co -3.27 ± 1.24 mg/dl, P = .042) and head angle (Visual - 36.43 ± 3.69°; Co -25.14 ± 4.88°, P = .003). The prevalence of "ears forward" behavior was also higher following Visual (100% - 7/7) than Co (14% - 1/7, P = .004). These results suggest that visual stimulus (1) was safe and well tolerated and (2) prompted the anaerobic lactic pathways and shifted the behavior to a vigilant state. In conclusion, horses were able to perceive and adapt to a social environment. Our findings validate the use of social facilitation of trotting to encourage horses to move forward avoiding the use of the whip.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paulo Moreira Bogossian
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Sao Paulo, School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Juliana Santos Pereira
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Sao Paulo, School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Nathalia Felicio da Silva
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Sao Paulo, School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Ayrton Rodrigo Hilgert
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Sao Paulo, School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Sarah Raphaela Torquato Seidel
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Sao Paulo, School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Joice Fülber
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Sao Paulo, School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Carla Bargi Belli
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Sao Paulo, School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Wilson Roberto Fernandes
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Sao Paulo, School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, São Paulo, Brazil
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3
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Asinof SK, Card GM. Neural Control of Naturalistic Behavior Choices. Annu Rev Neurosci 2024; 47:369-388. [PMID: 38724026 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-neuro-111020-094019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/09/2024]
Abstract
In the natural world, animals make decisions on an ongoing basis, continuously selecting which action to undertake next. In the lab, however, the neural bases of decision processes have mostly been studied using artificial trial structures. New experimental tools based on the genetic toolkit of model organisms now make it experimentally feasible to monitor and manipulate neural activity in small subsets of neurons during naturalistic behaviors. We thus propose a new approach to investigating decision processes, termed reverse neuroethology. In this approach, experimenters select animal models based on experimental accessibility and then utilize cutting-edge tools such as connectomes and genetically encoded reagents to analyze the flow of information through an animal's nervous system during naturalistic choice behaviors. We describe how the reverse neuroethology strategy has been applied to understand the neural underpinnings of innate, rapid decision making, with a focus on defensive behavioral choices in the vinegar fly Drosophila melanogaster.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel K Asinof
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
- Janelia Research Campus, Ashburn, Virginia, USA
| | - Gwyneth M Card
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Neuroscience, and Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA;
- Janelia Research Campus, Ashburn, Virginia, USA
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4
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Booth JH, Meek AT, Kronenberg NM, Pulver SR, Gather MC. Optical mapping of ground reaction force dynamics in freely behaving Drosophila melanogaster larvae. eLife 2024; 12:RP87746. [PMID: 39042447 PMCID: PMC11265794 DOI: 10.7554/elife.87746] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/24/2024] Open
Abstract
During locomotion, soft-bodied terrestrial animals solve complex control problems at substrate interfaces, but our understanding of how they achieve this without rigid components remains incomplete. Here, we develop new all-optical methods based on optical interference in a deformable substrate to measure ground reaction forces (GRFs) with micrometre and nanonewton precision in behaving Drosophila larvae. Combining this with a kinematic analysis of substrate-interfacing features, we shed new light onto the biomechanical control of larval locomotion. Crawling in larvae measuring ~1 mm in length involves an intricate pattern of cuticle sequestration and planting, producing GRFs of 1-7 µN. We show that larvae insert and expand denticulated, feet-like structures into substrates as they move, a process not previously observed in soft-bodied animals. These 'protopodia' form dynamic anchors to compensate counteracting forces. Our work provides a framework for future biomechanics research in soft-bodied animals and promises to inspire improved soft-robot design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan H Booth
- SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St AndrewsSt AndrewsUnited Kingdom
- Humboldt Centre for Nano- and Biophotonics, Department of Chemistry, University of CologneCologneGermany
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St AndrewsSt AndrewsUnited Kingdom
- Centre of Biophotonics, University of St AndrewsSt AndrewsUnited Kingdom
| | - Andrew T Meek
- SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St AndrewsSt AndrewsUnited Kingdom
- Humboldt Centre for Nano- and Biophotonics, Department of Chemistry, University of CologneCologneGermany
- Centre of Biophotonics, University of St AndrewsSt AndrewsUnited Kingdom
| | - Nils M Kronenberg
- SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St AndrewsSt AndrewsUnited Kingdom
- Humboldt Centre for Nano- and Biophotonics, Department of Chemistry, University of CologneCologneGermany
- Centre of Biophotonics, University of St AndrewsSt AndrewsUnited Kingdom
| | - Stefan R Pulver
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St AndrewsSt AndrewsUnited Kingdom
- Centre of Biophotonics, University of St AndrewsSt AndrewsUnited Kingdom
| | - Malte C Gather
- SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St AndrewsSt AndrewsUnited Kingdom
- Humboldt Centre for Nano- and Biophotonics, Department of Chemistry, University of CologneCologneGermany
- Centre of Biophotonics, University of St AndrewsSt AndrewsUnited Kingdom
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5
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Medeiros AM, Hobbiss AF, Borges G, Moita M, Mendes CS. Mechanosensory bristles mediate avoidance behavior by triggering sustained local motor activity in Drosophila melanogaster. Curr Biol 2024; 34:2812-2830.e5. [PMID: 38861987 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.05.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2023] [Revised: 03/12/2024] [Accepted: 05/13/2024] [Indexed: 06/13/2024]
Abstract
During locomotion, most vertebrates-and invertebrates such as Drosophila melanogaster-are able to quickly adapt to terrain irregularities or avoid physical threats by integrating sensory information along with motor commands. Key to this adaptability are leg mechanosensory structures, which assist in motor coordination by transmitting external cues and proprioceptive information to motor centers in the central nervous system. Nevertheless, how different mechanosensory structures engage these locomotor centers remains poorly understood. Here, we tested the role of mechanosensory structures in movement initiation by optogenetically stimulating specific classes of leg sensory structures. We found that stimulation of leg mechanosensory bristles (MsBs) and the femoral chordotonal organ (ChO) is sufficient to initiate forward movement in immobile animals. While the stimulation of the ChO required brain centers to induce forward movement, unexpectedly, brief stimulation of leg MsBs triggered a fast response and sustained motor activity dependent only on the ventral nerve cord (VNC). Moreover, this leg-MsB-mediated movement lacked inter- and intra-leg coordination but preserved antagonistic muscle activity within joints. Finally, we show that leg-MsB activation mediates strong avoidance behavior away from the stimulus source, which is preserved even in the absence of a central brain. Overall, our data show that mechanosensory stimulation can elicit a fast motor response, independently of central brain commands, to evade potentially harmful stimuli. In addition, it sheds light on how specific sensory circuits modulate motor control, including initiation of movement, allowing a better understanding of how different levels of coordination are controlled by the VNC and central brain locomotor circuits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra M Medeiros
- iNOVA4Health, NOVA Medical School|Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, NMS|FCM, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 1169-056 Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Anna F Hobbiss
- iNOVA4Health, NOVA Medical School|Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, NMS|FCM, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 1169-056 Lisbon, Portugal; Champalimaud Research, Champalimaud Center for the Unknown, 1400-038 Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Gonçalo Borges
- iNOVA4Health, NOVA Medical School|Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, NMS|FCM, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 1169-056 Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Marta Moita
- Champalimaud Research, Champalimaud Center for the Unknown, 1400-038 Lisbon, Portugal
| | - César S Mendes
- iNOVA4Health, NOVA Medical School|Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, NMS|FCM, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 1169-056 Lisbon, Portugal.
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6
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Salisbury JM, Palmer SE. A dynamic scale-mixture model of motion in natural scenes. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2023.10.19.563101. [PMID: 37961311 PMCID: PMC10634686 DOI: 10.1101/2023.10.19.563101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2023]
Abstract
Some of the most important tasks of visual and motor systems involve estimating the motion of objects and tracking them over time. Such systems evolved to meet the behavioral needs of the organism in its natural environment, and may therefore be adapted to the statistics of motion it is likely to encounter. By tracking the movement of individual points in movies of natural scenes, we begin to identify common properties of natural motion across scenes. As expected, objects in natural scenes move in a persistent fashion, with velocity correlations lasting hundreds of milliseconds. More subtly, but crucially, we find that the observed velocity distributions are heavy-tailed and can be modeled as a Gaussian scale-mixture. Extending this model to the time domain leads to a dynamic scale-mixture model, consisting of a Gaussian process multiplied by a positive scalar quantity with its own independent dynamics. Dynamic scaling of velocity arises naturally as a consequence of changes in object distance from the observer, and may approximate the effects of changes in other parameters governing the motion in a given scene. This modeling and estimation framework has implications for the neurobiology of sensory and motor systems, which need to cope with these fluctuations in scale in order to represent motion efficiently and drive fast and accurate tracking behavior.
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7
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Rind FC. Recent advances in insect vision in a 3D world: looming stimuli and escape behaviour. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2024; 63:101180. [PMID: 38432555 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2024.101180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2022] [Revised: 02/13/2024] [Accepted: 02/19/2024] [Indexed: 03/05/2024]
Abstract
Detecting looming motion directly towards the insect is vital to its survival. Looming detection in two insects, flies and locusts, is described and contrasted. Pathways using looming detectors to trigger action and their topographical layout in the brain is explored in relation to facilitating behavioural selection. Similar visual stimuli, such as looming motion, are processed by nearby glomeruli in the brain. Insect-inspired looming motion detectors are combined to detect and avoid collision in different scenarios by robots, vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)s.
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Affiliation(s)
- F Claire Rind
- Newcastle University Biosciences Institute (NUBI), UK.
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8
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Moreno-Sanchez A, Vasserman AN, Jang H, Hina BW, von Reyn CR, Ausborn J. Morphology and synapse topography optimize linear encoding of synapse numbers in Drosophila looming responsive descending neurons. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.04.24.591016. [PMID: 38712267 PMCID: PMC11071487 DOI: 10.1101/2024.04.24.591016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/08/2024]
Abstract
Synapses are often precisely organized on dendritic arbors, yet the role of synaptic topography in dendritic integration remains poorly understood. Utilizing electron microscopy (EM) connectomics we investigate synaptic topography in Drosophila melanogaster looming circuits, focusing on retinotopically tuned visual projection neurons (VPNs) that synapse onto descending neurons (DNs). Synapses of a given VPN type project to non-overlapping regions on DN dendrites. Within these spatially constrained clusters, synapses are not retinotopically organized, but instead adopt near random distributions. To investigate how this organization strategy impacts DN integration, we developed multicompartment models of DNs fitted to experimental data and using precise EM morphologies and synapse locations. We find that DN dendrite morphologies normalize EPSP amplitudes of individual synaptic inputs and that near random distributions of synapses ensure linear encoding of synapse numbers from individual VPNs. These findings illuminate how synaptic topography influences dendritic integration and suggest that linear encoding of synapse numbers may be a default strategy established through connectivity and passive neuron properties, upon which active properties and plasticity can then tune as needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anthony Moreno-Sanchez
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, United States
| | - Alexander N. Vasserman
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, United States
| | - HyoJong Jang
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Bryce W. Hina
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Catherine R. von Reyn
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, United States
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Jessica Ausborn
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, United States
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9
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Gorko B, Siwanowicz I, Close K, Christoforou C, Hibbard KL, Kabra M, Lee A, Park JY, Li SY, Chen AB, Namiki S, Chen C, Tuthill JC, Bock DD, Rouault H, Branson K, Ihrke G, Huston SJ. Motor neurons generate pose-targeted movements via proprioceptive sculpting. Nature 2024; 628:596-603. [PMID: 38509371 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07222-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2022] [Accepted: 02/22/2024] [Indexed: 03/22/2024]
Abstract
Motor neurons are the final common pathway1 through which the brain controls movement of the body, forming the basic elements from which all movement is composed. Yet how a single motor neuron contributes to control during natural movement remains unclear. Here we anatomically and functionally characterize the individual roles of the motor neurons that control head movement in the fly, Drosophila melanogaster. Counterintuitively, we find that activity in a single motor neuron rotates the head in different directions, depending on the starting posture of the head, such that the head converges towards a pose determined by the identity of the stimulated motor neuron. A feedback model predicts that this convergent behaviour results from motor neuron drive interacting with proprioceptive feedback. We identify and genetically2 suppress a single class of proprioceptive neuron3 that changes the motor neuron-induced convergence as predicted by the feedback model. These data suggest a framework for how the brain controls movements: instead of directly generating movement in a given direction by activating a fixed set of motor neurons, the brain controls movements by adding bias to a continuing proprioceptive-motor loop.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Gorko
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
- Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - Igor Siwanowicz
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | - Kari Close
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | | | - Karen L Hibbard
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | - Mayank Kabra
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | - Allen Lee
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | - Jin-Yong Park
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | - Si Ying Li
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
- The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Alex B Chen
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
- Program in Neuroscience, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Shigehiro Namiki
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
- Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Chenghao Chen
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - John C Tuthill
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Davi D Bock
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
- Department of Neurological Sciences, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA
| | - Hervé Rouault
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
- Turing Centre for Living systems, Aix-Marseille University, Université de Toulon, CNRS, CPT (UMR 7332), Marseille, France
| | - Kristin Branson
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | - Gudrun Ihrke
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | - Stephen J Huston
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA.
- Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
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10
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Ding SS, Fox JL, Gordus A, Joshi A, Liao JC, Scholz M. Fantastic beasts and how to study them: rethinking experimental animal behavior. J Exp Biol 2024; 227:jeb247003. [PMID: 38372042 PMCID: PMC10911175 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.247003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/20/2024]
Abstract
Humans have been trying to understand animal behavior at least since recorded history. Recent rapid development of new technologies has allowed us to make significant progress in understanding the physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying behavior, a key goal of neuroethology. However, there is a tradeoff when studying animal behavior and its underlying biological mechanisms: common behavior protocols in the laboratory are designed to be replicable and controlled, but they often fail to encompass the variability and breadth of natural behavior. This Commentary proposes a framework of 10 key questions that aim to guide researchers in incorporating a rich natural context into their experimental design or in choosing a new animal study system. The 10 questions cover overarching experimental considerations that can provide a template for interspecies comparisons, enable us to develop studies in new model organisms and unlock new experiments in our quest to understand behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siyu Serena Ding
- Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, 78464 Konstanz, Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, 78464 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Jessica L. Fox
- Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
| | - Andrew Gordus
- Department of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
| | - Abhilasha Joshi
- Departments of Physiology and Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - James C. Liao
- Department of Biology, The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience, University of Florida, St. Augustine, FL 32080, USA
| | - Monika Scholz
- Max Planck Research Group Neural Information Flow, Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology of Behavior – caesar, 53175 Bonn, Germany
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11
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Simpson JH. Descending control of motor sequences in Drosophila. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2024; 84:102822. [PMID: 38096757 PMCID: PMC11215313 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2023.102822] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2023] [Revised: 11/22/2023] [Accepted: 11/22/2023] [Indexed: 02/18/2024]
Abstract
The descending neurons connecting the fly's brain to its ventral nerve cord respond to sensory stimuli and evoke motor programs of varying complexity. Anatomical characterization of the descending neurons and their synaptic connections suggests how these circuits organize movements, while optogenetic manipulation of their activity reveals what behaviors they can induce. Monitoring their responses to sensory stimuli or during behavior performance indicates what information they may encode. Recent advances in all three approaches make the descending neurons an excellent place to better understand the sensorimotor integration and transformation required for nervous systems to govern the motor sequences that constitute animal behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie H Simpson
- Dept. Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology and Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California Santa Barbara, USA.
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12
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Lunn R, Baumhardt PE, Blackwell BF, Freyssinier JP, Fernández-Juricic E. Light wavelength and pulsing frequency affect avoidance responses of Canada geese. PeerJ 2023; 11:e16379. [PMID: 38025716 PMCID: PMC10668863 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.16379] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2023] [Accepted: 10/09/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Collisions between birds and aircraft cause bird mortality, economic damage, and aviation safety hazards. One proposed solution to increasing the distance at which birds detect and move away from an approaching aircraft, ultimately mitigating the probability of collision, is through onboard lighting systems. Lights in vehicles have been shown to lead to earlier reactions in some bird species but they could also generate attraction, potentially increasing the probability of collision. Using information on the visual system of the Canada goose (Branta canadensis), we developed light stimuli of high chromatic contrast to their eyes. We then conducted a controlled behavioral experiment (i.e., single-choice test) to assess the avoidance or attraction responses of Canada geese to LED lights of different wavelengths (blue, 483 nm; red, 631 nm) and pulsing frequencies (steady, pulsing at 2 Hz). Overall, Canada geese tended to avoid the blue light and move towards the red light; however, these responses depended heavily on light exposure order. At the beginning of the experiment, geese tended to avoid the red light. After further exposure the birds developed an attraction to the red light, consistent with the mere exposure effect. The response to the blue light generally followed a U-shape relationship (avoidance, attraction, avoidance) with increasing number of exposures, again consistent with the mere exposure effect, but followed by the satiation effect. Lights pulsing at 2 Hz enhanced avoidance responses under high ambient light conditions; whereas steady lights enhanced avoidance responses under dim ambient light conditions. Our results have implications for the design of lighting systems aimed at mitigating collisions between birds and human objects. LED lights in the blue portion of the spectrum are good candidates for deterrents and lights in the red portion of the spectrum may be counterproductive given the attraction effects with increasing exposure. Additionally, consideration should be given to systems that automatically modify pulsing of the light depending on ambient light intensity to enhance avoidance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan Lunn
- Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States of America
| | - Patrice E. Baumhardt
- Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States of America
| | - Bradley F. Blackwell
- United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health and Inspection Services, National Wildlife Research Center, Sandusky, OH, United States of America
| | - Jean Paul Freyssinier
- Lighting Research Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, United States of America
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13
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Goyal P, Baird E, Srinivasan MV, Muijres FT. Visual guidance of honeybees approaching a vertical landing surface. J Exp Biol 2023; 226:jeb245956. [PMID: 37589414 PMCID: PMC10482386 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.245956] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2023] [Accepted: 08/08/2023] [Indexed: 08/18/2023]
Abstract
Landing is a critical phase for flying animals, whereby many rely on visual cues to perform controlled touchdown. Foraging honeybees rely on regular landings on flowers to collect food crucial for colony survival and reproduction. Here, we explored how honeybees utilize optical expansion cues to regulate approach flight speed when landing on vertical surfaces. Three sensory-motor control models have been proposed for landings of natural flyers. Landing honeybees maintain a constant optical expansion rate set-point, resulting in a gradual decrease in approach velocity and gentile touchdown. Bumblebees exhibit a similar strategy, but they regularly switch to a new constant optical expansion rate set-point. In contrast, landing birds fly at a constant time to contact to achieve faster landings. Here, we re-examined the landing strategy of honeybees by fitting the three models to individual approach flights of honeybees landing on platforms with varying optical expansion cues. Surprisingly, the landing model identified in bumblebees proved to be the most suitable for these honeybees. This reveals that honeybees adjust their optical expansion rate in a stepwise manner. Bees flying at low optical expansion rates tend to increase their set-point stepwise, while those flying at high optical expansion rates tend to decrease it stepwise. This modular landing control system enables honeybees to land rapidly and reliably under a wide range of initial flight conditions and visual landing platform patterns. The remarkable similarity between the landing strategies of honeybees and bumblebees suggests that this may also be prevalent among other flying insects. Furthermore, these findings hold promising potential for bioinspired guidance systems in flying robots.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pulkit Goyal
- Experimental Zoology Group, Wageningen University & Research, 6708WD Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Emily Baird
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, 114 18 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Mandyam V. Srinivasan
- Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Florian T. Muijres
- Experimental Zoology Group, Wageningen University & Research, 6708WD Wageningen, The Netherlands
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14
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Wu Q, Zhang Y. Neural Circuit Mechanisms Involved in Animals' Detection of and Response to Visual Threats. Neurosci Bull 2023; 39:994-1008. [PMID: 36694085 PMCID: PMC10264346 DOI: 10.1007/s12264-023-01021-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2022] [Accepted: 10/30/2022] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Evading or escaping from predators is one of the most crucial issues for survival across the animal kingdom. The timely detection of predators and the initiation of appropriate fight-or-flight responses are innate capabilities of the nervous system. Here we review recent progress in our understanding of innate visually-triggered defensive behaviors and the underlying neural circuit mechanisms, and a comparison among vinegar flies, zebrafish, and mice is included. This overview covers the anatomical and functional aspects of the neural circuits involved in this process, including visual threat processing and identification, the selection of appropriate behavioral responses, and the initiation of these innate defensive behaviors. The emphasis of this review is on the early stages of this pathway, namely, threat identification from complex visual inputs and how behavioral choices are influenced by differences in visual threats. We also briefly cover how the innate defensive response is processed centrally. Based on these summaries, we discuss coding strategies for visual threats and propose a common prototypical pathway for rapid innate defensive responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiwen Wu
- Institute of Neuroscience, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200031, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Yifeng Zhang
- Institute of Neuroscience, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200031, China.
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15
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Jumping of flea beetles onto inclined platforms. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2023; 209:253-263. [PMID: 36166060 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-022-01567-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2022] [Revised: 08/24/2022] [Accepted: 08/25/2022] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
Abstract
The flea beetle, Altica cirsicola, escapes predators by jumping and landing in a dense maze of leaves. How do they land on such varied surfaces? In this experimental study, we filmed the take-off, flight, and landing of flea beetles on a configurable angled platform. We report three in-flight behaviors: winged, wingless, and an intermediate winged mode. These modes significantly affected take-off speed, acceleration, and the duration that wings were deployed. When wings were closed, flea beetles rolled or pitched up to five times in the air. This work may help to understand how insects can jump and right themselves onto variable surfaces.
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16
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Alonso-Pena M, Crujeiras RM. Analyzing animal escape data with circular nonparametric multimodal regression. Ann Appl Stat 2023. [DOI: 10.1214/22-aoas1619] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
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17
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Dombrovski M, Peek MY, Park JY, Vaccari A, Sumathipala M, Morrow C, Breads P, Zhao A, Kurmangaliyev YZ, Sanfilippo P, Rehan A, Polsky J, Alghailani S, Tenshaw E, Namiki S, Zipursky SL, Card GM. Synaptic gradients transform object location to action. Nature 2023; 613:534-542. [PMID: 36599984 PMCID: PMC9849133 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05562-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2022] [Accepted: 11/11/2022] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
To survive, animals must convert sensory information into appropriate behaviours1,2. Vision is a common sense for locating ethologically relevant stimuli and guiding motor responses3-5. How circuitry converts object location in retinal coordinates to movement direction in body coordinates remains largely unknown. Here we show through behaviour, physiology, anatomy and connectomics in Drosophila that visuomotor transformation occurs by conversion of topographic maps formed by the dendrites of feature-detecting visual projection neurons (VPNs)6,7 into synaptic weight gradients of VPN outputs onto central brain neurons. We demonstrate how this gradient motif transforms the anteroposterior location of a visual looming stimulus into the fly's directional escape. Specifically, we discover that two neurons postsynaptic to a looming-responsive VPN type promote opposite takeoff directions. Opposite synaptic weight gradients onto these neurons from looming VPNs in different visual field regions convert localized looming threats into correctly oriented escapes. For a second looming-responsive VPN type, we demonstrate graded responses along the dorsoventral axis. We show that this synaptic gradient motif generalizes across all 20 primary VPN cell types and most often arises without VPN axon topography. Synaptic gradients may thus be a general mechanism for conveying spatial features of sensory information into directed motor outputs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark Dombrovski
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Martin Y Peek
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | - Jin-Yong Park
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | - Andrea Vaccari
- Department of Computer Science, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT, USA
| | | | - Carmen Morrow
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | - Patrick Breads
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | - Arthur Zhao
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | - Yerbol Z Kurmangaliyev
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Piero Sanfilippo
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Aadil Rehan
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Jason Polsky
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | - Shada Alghailani
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | - Emily Tenshaw
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | - Shigehiro Namiki
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA.,Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - S Lawrence Zipursky
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
| | - Gwyneth M Card
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA. .,Department of Neuroscience, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
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18
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Wynne NE, Chandrasegaran K, Fryzlewicz L, Vinauger C. Visual threats reduce blood-feeding and trigger escape responses in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Sci Rep 2022; 12:21354. [PMID: 36494463 PMCID: PMC9734121 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-25461-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2022] [Accepted: 11/30/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The diurnal mosquitoes Aedes aegypti are vectors of several arboviruses, including dengue, yellow fever, and Zika viruses. To find a host to feed on, they rely on the sophisticated integration of olfactory, visual, thermal, and gustatory cues emitted by the hosts. If detected by their target, this latter may display defensive behaviors that mosquitoes need to be able to detect and escape in order to survive. In humans, a typical response is a swat of the hand, which generates both mechanical and visual perturbations aimed at a mosquito. Here, we used programmable visual displays to generate expanding objects sharing characteristics with the visual component of an approaching hand and quantified the behavioral response of female mosquitoes. Results show that Ae. aegypti is capable of using visual information to decide whether to feed on an artificial host mimic. Stimulations delivered in a LED flight arena further reveal that landed Ae. aegypti females display a stereotypical escape strategy by taking off at an angle that is a function of the direction of stimulus introduction. Altogether, this study demonstrates that mosquitoes landed on a host mimic can use isolated visual cues to detect and avoid a potential threat.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole E. Wynne
- grid.438526.e0000 0001 0694 4940Department of Biochemistry, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061 USA ,grid.438526.e0000 0001 0694 4940Center for Emerging Zoonotic and Arthropod-Borne Pathogens, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061 USA
| | - Karthikeyan Chandrasegaran
- grid.438526.e0000 0001 0694 4940Department of Biochemistry, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061 USA ,grid.438526.e0000 0001 0694 4940Center for Emerging Zoonotic and Arthropod-Borne Pathogens, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061 USA
| | - Lauren Fryzlewicz
- grid.438526.e0000 0001 0694 4940Department of Biochemistry, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061 USA ,grid.438526.e0000 0001 0694 4940Center for Emerging Zoonotic and Arthropod-Borne Pathogens, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061 USA
| | - Clément Vinauger
- grid.438526.e0000 0001 0694 4940Department of Biochemistry, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061 USA ,grid.438526.e0000 0001 0694 4940Center for Emerging Zoonotic and Arthropod-Borne Pathogens, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061 USA
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19
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Yu B, Liu N, Tang S, Qin T, Huang J. Roles of Glutamate Receptor-Like Channels (GLRs) in Plant Growth and Response to Environmental Stimuli. PLANTS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2022; 11:3450. [PMID: 36559561 PMCID: PMC9782139 DOI: 10.3390/plants11243450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2022] [Revised: 12/06/2022] [Accepted: 12/06/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Plant glutamate receptor-like channels (GLRs) are the homologues of ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs) that mediate neurotransmission in mammals, and they play important roles in various plant-specific physiological processes, such as pollen tube growth, sexual reproduction, root meristem proliferation, internode cell elongation, stomata aperture regulation, and innate immune and wound responses. Notably, these biological functions of GLRs have been mostly linked to the Ca2+-permeable channel activity as GLRs can directly channel the transmembrane flux of Ca2+, which acts as a key second messenger in plant cell responses to both endogenous and exogenous stimuli. Thus, it was hypothesized that GLRs are mainly involved in Ca2+ signaling processes in plant cells. Recently, great progress has been made in GLRs for their roles in long-distance signal transduction pathways mediated by electrical activity and Ca2+ signaling. Here, we review the recent progress on plant GLRs, and special attention is paid to recent insights into the roles of GLRs in response to environmental stimuli via Ca2+ signaling, electrical activity, ROS, as well as hormone signaling networks. Understanding the roles of GLRs in integrating internal and external signaling for plant developmental adaptations to a changing environment will definitely help to enhance abiotic stress tolerance.
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20
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Ferreira CH, Heinemans M, Farias M, Gonçalves R, Moita MA. Social Cues of Safety Can Override Differences in Threat Level. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.885795] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Animals in groups integrate social with directly gathered information about the environment to guide decisions regarding reproduction, foraging, and defence against predatory threats. In the context of predation, usage of social information has acute fitness benefits, aiding the detection of predators, the mounting of concerted defensive responses, or allowing the inference of safety, permitting other beneficial behaviors, such as foraging for food. We previously showed that Drosophila melanogaster exposed to an inescapable visual threat use freezing by surrounding flies as a cue of danger and movement resumption as a cue of safety. Moreover, group responses were primarily guided by the safety cues, resulting in a net social buffering effect, i.e., a graded decrease in freezing behavior with increasing group sizes, similar to other animals. Whether and how different threat levels affect the use of social cues to guide defense responses remains elusive. Here, we investigated this issue by exposing flies individually and in groups to two threat imminences using looms of different speeds. We showed that freezing responses are stronger to the faster looms regardless of social condition. However, social buffering was stronger for groups exposed to the fast looms, such that the increase in freezing caused by the higher threat was less prominent in flies tested in groups than those tested individually. Through artificial control of movement, we created groups composed of moving and freezing flies and by varying group composition, we titrated the motion cues that surrounding flies produce, which were held constant across threat levels. We found that the same level of safety motion cues had a bigger weight on the flies’ decisions when these were exposed to the higher threat, thus overriding differences in perceived threat levels. These findings shed light on the “safety in numbers” effect, revealing the modulation of the saliency of social safety cues across threat intensities, a possible mechanism to regulate costly defensive responses.
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21
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Tanaka R, Clark DA. Neural mechanisms to exploit positional geometry for collision avoidance. Curr Biol 2022; 32:2357-2374.e6. [PMID: 35508172 PMCID: PMC9177691 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.04.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2022] [Revised: 03/21/2022] [Accepted: 04/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Visual motion provides rich geometrical cues about the three-dimensional configuration of the world. However, how brains decode the spatial information carried by motion signals remains poorly understood. Here, we study a collision-avoidance behavior in Drosophila as a simple model of motion-based spatial vision. With simulations and psychophysics, we demonstrate that walking Drosophila exhibit a pattern of slowing to avoid collisions by exploiting the geometry of positional changes of objects on near-collision courses. This behavior requires the visual neuron LPLC1, whose tuning mirrors the behavior and whose activity drives slowing. LPLC1 pools inputs from object and motion detectors, and spatially biased inhibition tunes it to the geometry of collisions. Connectomic analyses identified circuitry downstream of LPLC1 that faithfully inherits its response properties. Overall, our results reveal how a small neural circuit solves a specific spatial vision task by combining distinct visual features to exploit universal geometrical constraints of the visual world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryosuke Tanaka
- Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
| | - Damon A Clark
- Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA; Department of Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA; Department of Physics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA; Department of Neuroscience, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.
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22
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von Reyn CR. Feature encoding: How back-to-front motion guides the polite fly. Curr Biol 2022; 32:R513-R515. [PMID: 35671722 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.04.078] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Motion of a visual image from back-to-front across a visual field can provide an early-stage cue for impending collisions. A new study reveals visual feature encoding neurons that drive behavioral responses to back-to-front motion in the fly Drosophila melanogaster.
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Affiliation(s)
- Catherine R von Reyn
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
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23
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Abstract
Insects have evolved sophisticated reflexes to right themselves in mid-air. Their recovery mechanisms involve complex interactions among the physical senses, muscles, body, and wings, and they must obey the laws of flight. We sought to understand the key mechanisms involved in dragonfly righting reflexes and to develop physics-based models for understanding the control strategies of flight maneuvers. Using kinematic analyses, physical modeling, and three-dimensional flight simulations, we found that a dragonfly uses left-right wing pitch asymmetry to roll its body 180 degrees to recover from falling upside down in ~200 milliseconds. Experiments of dragonflies with blocked vision further revealed that this rolling maneuver is initiated by their ocelli and compound eyes. These results suggest a pathway from the dragonfly's visual system to the muscles regulating wing pitch that underly the recovery. The methods developed here offer quantitative tools for inferring insects' internal actions from their acrobatics, and are applicable to a broad class of natural and robotic flying systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Z Jane Wang
- Department of Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA.,Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA.,Center for Computational Biology, Flatiron Institute, New York, NY 10010, USA
| | - James Melfi
- Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA
| | - Anthony Leonardo
- Janelia Farm Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA
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24
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Luo L, Hina BW, McFarland BW, Saunders JC, Smolin N, von Reyn CR. An optogenetics device with smartphone video capture to introduce neurotechnology and systems neuroscience to high school students. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0267834. [PMID: 35522662 PMCID: PMC9075642 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0267834] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2021] [Accepted: 04/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Although neurotechnology careers are on the rise, and neuroscience curriculums have significantly grown at the undergraduate and graduate levels, increasing neuroscience and neurotechnology exposure in high school curricula has been an ongoing challenge. This is due, in part, to difficulties in converting cutting-edge neuroscience research into hands-on activities that are accessible for high school students and affordable for high school educators. Here, we describe and characterize a low-cost, easy-to-construct device to enable students to record rapid Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly) behaviors during optogenetics experiments. The device is generated from inexpensive Arduino kits and utilizes a smartphone for video capture, making it easy to adopt in a standard biology laboratory. We validate this device is capable of replicating optogenetics experiments performed with more sophisticated setups at leading universities and institutes. We incorporate the device into a high school neuroengineering summer workshop. We find student participation in the workshop significantly enhances their understanding of key neuroscience and neurotechnology concepts, demonstrating how this device can be utilized in high school settings and undergraduate research laboratories seeking low-cost alternatives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liudi Luo
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Bryce W. Hina
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Brennan W. McFarland
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Jillian C. Saunders
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Natalie Smolin
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Catherine R. von Reyn
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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25
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Ifere NO, Shidara H, Sato N, Ogawa H. Spatial perception mediated by insect antennal mechanosensory system. J Exp Biol 2022; 225:274502. [PMID: 35072207 PMCID: PMC8920036 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.243276] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2021] [Accepted: 01/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Animals perceive their surroundings by using various modalities of sensory inputs to guide their locomotion. Nocturnal insects such as crickets use mechanosensory inputs mediated by their antennae to orient in darkness. Spatial information is acquired via voluntary antennal contacts with surrounding objects, but it remains unclear whether the insects modulate behaviors mediated by other sensory organs based on that information. Crickets exhibit escape behavior in response to a short air-puff, which is detected by the abdominal mechanosensory organs called cerci and is perceived as a “predator approach” signal. We placed objects of different shapes at different locations with which the cricket actively made contact using its antenna. We then examined the effects on wind-elicited escape behavior. The crickets changed their movement trajectory in response to nearby objects like walls so that they could avoid collision with these obstacles even during the cercal-mediated behavior. For instance, when a wall was placed in front of the crickets so that it was detected by one antenna, the escape trajectory in response to a stimulus from behind was significantly biased toward the side opposite the wall. Even when the antenna on the free side without the wall was ablated, this collision avoidance was also observed, suggesting that the mechanosensory inputs from one antenna detecting an object edge would be sufficient to perceive the location of obstacle in front. This study demonstrated that crickets were able to use the spatial information acquired with their antennal system to modify their behavior mediated by other sensory organs.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Hisashi Shidara
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan
| | - Nodoka Sato
- Graduate School of Life Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan
| | - Hiroto Ogawa
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan
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26
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Zhou B, Li Z, Kim S, Lafferty J, Clark DA. Shallow neural networks trained to detect collisions recover features of visual loom-selective neurons. eLife 2022; 11:72067. [PMID: 35023828 PMCID: PMC8849349 DOI: 10.7554/elife.72067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2021] [Accepted: 01/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Animals have evolved sophisticated visual circuits to solve a vital inference problem: detecting whether or not a visual signal corresponds to an object on a collision course. Such events are detected by specific circuits sensitive to visual looming, or objects increasing in size. Various computational models have been developed for these circuits, but how the collision-detection inference problem itself shapes the computational structures of these circuits remains unknown. Here, inspired by the distinctive structures of LPLC2 neurons in the visual system of Drosophila, we build anatomically-constrained shallow neural network models and train them to identify visual signals that correspond to impending collisions. Surprisingly, the optimization arrives at two distinct, opposing solutions, only one of which matches the actual dendritic weighting of LPLC2 neurons. Both solutions can solve the inference problem with high accuracy when the population size is large enough. The LPLC2-like solutions reproduces experimentally observed LPLC2 neuron responses for many stimuli, and reproduces canonical tuning of loom sensitive neurons, even though the models are never trained on neural data. Thus, LPLC2 neuron properties and tuning are predicted by optimizing an anatomically-constrained neural network to detect impending collisions. More generally, these results illustrate how optimizing inference tasks that are important for an animal's perceptual goals can reveal and explain computational properties of specific sensory neurons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Baohua Zhou
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, United States
| | - Zifan Li
- Department of Statistics and Data Science, Yale University, New Haven, United States
| | - Sunnie Kim
- Department of Statistics and Data Science, Yale University, New Haven, United States
| | - John Lafferty
- Department of Statistics and Data Science, Yale University, New Haven, United States
| | - Damon A Clark
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, United States
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27
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Devineni AV, Scaplen KM. Neural Circuits Underlying Behavioral Flexibility: Insights From Drosophila. Front Behav Neurosci 2022; 15:821680. [PMID: 35069145 PMCID: PMC8770416 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2021.821680] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2021] [Accepted: 12/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Behavioral flexibility is critical to survival. Animals must adapt their behavioral responses based on changes in the environmental context, internal state, or experience. Studies in Drosophila melanogaster have provided insight into the neural circuit mechanisms underlying behavioral flexibility. Here we discuss how Drosophila behavior is modulated by internal and behavioral state, environmental context, and learning. We describe general principles of neural circuit organization and modulation that underlie behavioral flexibility, principles that are likely to extend to other species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anita V. Devineni
- Department of Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States
- Zuckerman Mind Brain Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Kristin M. Scaplen
- Department of Psychology, Bryant University, Smithfield, RI, United States
- Center for Health and Behavioral Studies, Bryant University, Smithfield, RI, United States
- Department of Neuroscience, Brown University, Providence, RI, United States
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28
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Van De Poll MN, van Swinderen B. Balancing Prediction and Surprise: A Role for Active Sleep at the Dawn of Consciousness? Front Syst Neurosci 2021; 15:768762. [PMID: 34803618 PMCID: PMC8602873 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2021.768762] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2021] [Accepted: 10/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The brain is a prediction machine. Yet the world is never entirely predictable, for any animal. Unexpected events are surprising, and this typically evokes prediction error signatures in mammalian brains. In humans such mismatched expectations are often associated with an emotional response as well, and emotional dysregulation can lead to cognitive disorders such as depression or schizophrenia. Emotional responses are understood to be important for memory consolidation, suggesting that positive or negative 'valence' cues more generally constitute an ancient mechanism designed to potently refine and generalize internal models of the world and thereby minimize prediction errors. On the other hand, abolishing error detection and surprise entirely (as could happen by generalization or habituation) is probably maladaptive, as this might undermine the very mechanism that brains use to become better prediction machines. This paradoxical view of brain function as an ongoing balance between prediction and surprise suggests a compelling approach to study and understand the evolution of consciousness in animals. In particular, this view may provide insight into the function and evolution of 'active' sleep. Here, we propose that active sleep - when animals are behaviorally asleep but their brain seems awake - is widespread beyond mammals and birds, and may have evolved as a mechanism for optimizing predictive processing in motile creatures confronted with constantly changing environments. To explore our hypothesis, we progress from humans to invertebrates, investigating how a potential role for rapid eye movement (REM) sleep in emotional regulation in humans could be re-examined as a conserved sleep function that co-evolved alongside selective attention to maintain an adaptive balance between prediction and surprise. This view of active sleep has some interesting implications for the evolution of subjective awareness and consciousness in animals.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Bruno van Swinderen
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
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Rößler DC, De Agrò M, Kim K, Shamble PS. Static visual predator recognition in jumping spiders. Funct Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13953] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Daniela C. Rößler
- John Harvard Distinguished Science Fellows Program Harvard University Cambridge MA USA
- Zukunftskolleg University of Konstanz Konstanz Germany
- Department of Collective Behavior Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior Konstanz Germany
| | - Massimo De Agrò
- John Harvard Distinguished Science Fellows Program Harvard University Cambridge MA USA
- Institute of Zoology University of Regensburg Regensburg Germany
| | - Kris Kim
- John Harvard Distinguished Science Fellows Program Harvard University Cambridge MA USA
| | - Paul S. Shamble
- John Harvard Distinguished Science Fellows Program Harvard University Cambridge MA USA
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Bowles S, Williamson WR, Nettles D, Hickman J, Welle CG. Closed-loop automated reaching apparatus (CLARA) for interrogating complex motor behaviors. J Neural Eng 2021; 18:10.1088/1741-2552/ac1ed1. [PMID: 34407518 PMCID: PMC8699662 DOI: 10.1088/1741-2552/ac1ed1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2021] [Accepted: 08/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Objective.Closed-loop neuromodulation technology is a rapidly expanding category of therapeutics for a broad range of indications. Development of these innovative neurological devices requires high-throughput systems for closed-loop stimulation of model organisms, while monitoring physiological signals and complex, naturalistic behaviors. To address this need, we developed CLARA, a closed-loop automated reaching apparatus.Approach.Using breakthroughs in computer vision, CLARA integrates fully-automated, markerless kinematic tracking of multiple features to classify animal behavior and precisely deliver neural stimulation based on behavioral outcomes. CLARA is compatible with advanced neurophysiological tools, enabling the testing of neurostimulation devices and identification of novel neurological biomarkers.Results.The CLARA system tracks unconstrained skilled reach behavior in 3D at 150 Hz without physical markers. The system fully automates trial initiation and pellet delivery and is capable of accurately delivering stimulation in response to trial outcome with short latency. Kinematic data from the CLARA system provided novel insights into the dynamics of reach consistency over the course of learning, suggesting that learning selectively improves reach failures but does not alter the kinematics of successful reaches. Additionally, using the closed-loop capabilities of CLARA, we demonstrate that vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) improves skilled reach performance and increases reach trajectory consistency in healthy animals.Significance.The CLARA system is the first mouse behavior apparatus that uses markerless pose tracking to provide real-time closed-loop stimulation in response to the outcome of an unconstrained motor task. Additionally, we demonstrate that the CLARA system was essential for our investigating the role of closed-loop VNS stimulation on motor performance in healthy animals. This approach has high translational relevance for developing neurostimulation technology based on complex human behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Bowles
- Neurosurgery, The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, United States of America
- These authors contributed equally
| | - W R Williamson
- NeuroTechnology Center, The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, United States of America
- These authors contributed equally
| | - D Nettles
- Neurosurgery, The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, United States of America
| | - J Hickman
- Neurosurgery, The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, United States of America
| | - C G Welle
- Neurosurgery, The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, United States of America
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31
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Hein AM, Altshuler DL, Cade DE, Liao JC, Martin BT, Taylor GK. An Algorithmic Approach to Natural Behavior. Curr Biol 2021; 30:R663-R675. [PMID: 32516620 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.04.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
Uncovering the mechanisms and implications of natural behavior is a goal that unites many fields of biology. Yet, the diversity, flexibility, and multi-scale nature of these behaviors often make understanding elusive. Here, we review studies of animal pursuit and evasion - two special classes of behavior where theory-driven experiments and new modeling techniques are beginning to uncover the general control principles underlying natural behavior. A key finding of these studies is that intricate sequences of pursuit and evasion behavior can often be constructed through simple, repeatable rules that link sensory input to motor output: we refer to these rules as behavioral algorithms. Identifying and mathematically characterizing these algorithms has led to important insights, including the discovery of guidance rules that attacking predators use to intercept mobile prey, and coordinated neural and biomechanical mechanisms that animals use to avoid impending collisions. Here, we argue that algorithms provide a good starting point for studies of natural behavior more generally. Rather than beginning at the neural or ecological levels of organization, we advocate starting in the middle, where the algorithms that link sensory input to behavioral output can provide a solid foundation from which to explore both the implementation and the ecological outcomes of behavior. We review insights that have been gained through such an algorithmic approach to pursuit and evasion behaviors. From these, we synthesize theoretical principles and lay out key modeling tools needed to apply an algorithmic approach to the study of other complex natural behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew M Hein
- Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA; Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA.
| | - Douglas L Altshuler
- Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T1Z4, Canada
| | - David E Cade
- Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA; Hopkins Marine Station, Department of Biology, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA 93950, USA
| | - James C Liao
- The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience, Department of Biology, University of Florida, 9505 Ocean Shore Blvd., St. Augustine, FL 32080, USA
| | - Benjamin T Martin
- Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA; Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA; Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Graham K Taylor
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, 11a Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3SZ, UK
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Gosztolai A, Günel S, Lobato-Ríos V, Pietro Abrate M, Morales D, Rhodin H, Fua P, Ramdya P. LiftPose3D, a deep learning-based approach for transforming two-dimensional to three-dimensional poses in laboratory animals. Nat Methods 2021; 18:975-981. [PMID: 34354294 PMCID: PMC7611544 DOI: 10.1038/s41592-021-01226-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2020] [Accepted: 06/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Markerless three-dimensional (3D) pose estimation has become an indispensable tool for kinematic studies of laboratory animals. Most current methods recover 3D poses by multi-view triangulation of deep network-based two-dimensional (2D) pose estimates. However, triangulation requires multiple synchronized cameras and elaborate calibration protocols that hinder its widespread adoption in laboratory studies. Here we describe LiftPose3D, a deep network-based method that overcomes these barriers by reconstructing 3D poses from a single 2D camera view. We illustrate LiftPose3D's versatility by applying it to multiple experimental systems using flies, mice, rats and macaques, and in circumstances where 3D triangulation is impractical or impossible. Our framework achieves accurate lifting for stereotypical and nonstereotypical behaviors from different camera angles. Thus, LiftPose3D permits high-quality 3D pose estimation in the absence of complex camera arrays and tedious calibration procedures and despite occluded body parts in freely behaving animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam Gosztolai
- Neuroengineering Laboratory, Brain Mind Institute & Interfaculty Institute of Bioengineering, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland.
| | - Semih Günel
- Neuroengineering Laboratory, Brain Mind Institute & Interfaculty Institute of Bioengineering, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland. .,Computer Vision Laboratory, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland.
| | - Victor Lobato-Ríos
- Neuroengineering Laboratory, Brain Mind Institute & Interfaculty Institute of Bioengineering, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Marco Pietro Abrate
- Neuroengineering Laboratory, Brain Mind Institute & Interfaculty Institute of Bioengineering, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Daniel Morales
- Neuroengineering Laboratory, Brain Mind Institute & Interfaculty Institute of Bioengineering, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Helge Rhodin
- Department of Computer Science, UBC, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Pascal Fua
- Computer Vision Laboratory, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Pavan Ramdya
- Neuroengineering Laboratory, Brain Mind Institute & Interfaculty Institute of Bioengineering, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland.
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Dillman AR, Korff W, Dickinson MH, Sternberg PW. Steinernema carpocapsae jumps with greater velocity and acceleration than previously reported. MICROPUBLICATION BIOLOGY 2021; 2021. [PMID: 34355139 PMCID: PMC8329732 DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.000435] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2021] [Revised: 07/22/2021] [Accepted: 07/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Infective juveniles of the insect-parastic nematode Steinernema carpocapsae canjump greater than 6 times their height, a striking evolved novelty in some species of this genus. Using high-speed videography, we observed the kinematics of Steinernema carpocapsae spontaneousjumping behavior. Our analysis places a lower bound on the velocity and acceleration of these worms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adler R Dillman
- Department of Nematology, University of California, Riverside
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Looming Cognitive Style More Consistently Predicts Anxiety than Depressive Symptoms: Evidence from a 3-Wave Yearlong Study. COGNITIVE THERAPY AND RESEARCH 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s10608-020-10189-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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35
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Maximally efficient prediction in the early fly visual system may support evasive flight maneuvers. PLoS Comput Biol 2021; 17:e1008965. [PMID: 34014926 PMCID: PMC8136689 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008965] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2020] [Accepted: 04/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The visual system must make predictions to compensate for inherent delays in its processing. Yet little is known, mechanistically, about how prediction aids natural behaviors. Here, we show that despite a 20-30ms intrinsic processing delay, the vertical motion sensitive (VS) network of the blowfly achieves maximally efficient prediction. This prediction enables the fly to fine-tune its complex, yet brief, evasive flight maneuvers according to its initial ego-rotation at the time of detection of the visual threat. Combining a rich database of behavioral recordings with detailed compartmental modeling of the VS network, we further show that the VS network has axonal gap junctions that are critical for optimal prediction. During evasive maneuvers, a VS subpopulation that directly innervates the neck motor center can convey predictive information about the fly’s future ego-rotation, potentially crucial for ongoing flight control. These results suggest a novel sensory-motor pathway that links sensory prediction to behavior. Survival-critical behaviors shape neural circuits to translate sensory information into strikingly fast predictions, e.g. in escaping from a predator faster than the system’s processing delay. We show that the fly visual system implements fast and accurate prediction of its visual experience. This provides crucial information for directing fast evasive maneuvers that unfold over just 40ms. Our work shows how this fast prediction is implemented, mechanistically, and suggests the existence of a novel sensory-motor pathway from the fly visual system to a wing steering motor neuron. Echoing and amplifying previous work in the retina, our work hypothesizes that the efficient encoding of predictive information is a universal design principle supporting fast, natural behaviors.
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36
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Ueda A, Iyengar A, Wu CF. Differential effects on neuromuscular physiology between Sod1 loss-of-function mutation and paraquat-induced oxidative stress in Drosophila. MICROPUBLICATION BIOLOGY 2021; 2021:10.17912/micropub.biology.000385. [PMID: 34027314 PMCID: PMC8133701 DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.000385] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2021] [Revised: 03/29/2021] [Accepted: 03/31/2021] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Oxidative stress is thought to be a major contributor to aging processes. Here, we report differential effects on neurotransmission caused by loss-of-function mutations of Superoxide dismutase 1 (Sod1) and by paraquat (PQ) feeding in Drosophila. We demonstrated alterations in Sod1 mutants; the larval neuromuscular junction displayed supernumerary discharges and the adult giant-fiber escape pathway showed increased latency and poor response to repetitive high-frequency stimulation. Even though the concentrations used led to motor coordination defects and lethality, PQ feeding failed to reproduce such performance deficits in these larval and adult preparations, indicating mechanistic distinctions between these genetic and pharmacological manipulations of oxidative stress.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Atulya Iyengar
- Dept. Biology, University of Iowa
- Iowa Neuroscience Institute, University of Iowa
| | - Chun-Fang Wu
- Dept. Biology, University of Iowa
- Iowa Neuroscience Institute, University of Iowa
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37
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Kosaka T, Gan JH, Long LD, Umezu S, Sato H. Remote radio control of insect flight reveals why beetles lift their legs in flight while other insects tightly fold. BIOINSPIRATION & BIOMIMETICS 2021; 16:036001. [PMID: 33513597 DOI: 10.1088/1748-3190/abe138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2020] [Accepted: 01/29/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
In the research and development of micro air vehicles, understanding and imitating the flight mechanism of insects presents a viable way of progressing forward. While research is being conducted on the flight mechanism of insects such as flies and dragonflies, research on beetles that can carry larger loads is limited. Here, we clarified the beetle midlegs' role in the attenuation and cessation of the wingbeat. We anatomically confirmed the connection between the midlegs and the elytra. We also further clarified which pair of legs are involved in the wingbeat attenuation mechanism, and lastly demonstrated free-flight control via remote leg muscle stimulation. Observation of multiple landings using a high-speed camera revealed that the wingbeat stopped immediately after their midlegs were lowered. Moreover, the action of lowering the midleg attenuated and often stopped the wingbeat. A miniature remote stimulation device (backpack) mountable on beetles was designed and utilized for the free-flight demonstration. Beetles in free flight were remotely induced into lowering (swing down) each leg pair via electrical stimulation, and they were found to lose significant altitude only when the midlegs were stimulated. Thus, the results of this study revealed that swinging down of the midlegs played a significant role in beetle wingbeat cessation. In the future, our findings on the wingbeat attenuation and cessation mechanism are expected to be helpful in designing bioinspired micro air vehicles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takumi Kosaka
- Department of Modern Mechanical Engineering, Waseda University, Japan
| | - Jia Hui Gan
- School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
| | - Le Duc Long
- School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
| | - Shinjiro Umezu
- Department of Modern Mechanical Engineering, Waseda University, Japan
| | - Hirotaka Sato
- School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
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38
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Yarger AM, Jordan KA, Smith AJ, Fox JL. Takeoff diversity in Diptera. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20202375. [PMID: 33434467 PMCID: PMC7892408 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.2375] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2020] [Accepted: 12/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The order Diptera (true flies) are named for their two wings because their hindwings have evolved into specialized mechanosensory organs called halteres. Flies use halteres to detect body rotations and maintain stability during flight and other behaviours. The most recently diverged dipteran monophyletic subsection, the Calyptratae, is highly successful, accounting for approximately 12% of dipteran diversity, and includes common families like house flies. These flies move their halteres independently from their wings and oscillate their halteres during walking. Here, we demonstrate that this subsection of flies uses their halteres to stabilize their bodies during takeoff, whereas non-Calyptratae flies do not. We find that flies of the Calyptratae are able to take off more rapidly than non-Calyptratae flies without sacrificing stability. Haltere removal decreased both velocity and stability in the takeoffs of Calyptratae, but not other flies. The loss of takeoff velocity following haltere removal in Calyptratae (but not other flies) is a direct result of a decrease in leg extension speed. A closely related non-Calyptratae species (D. melanogaster) also has a rapid takeoff, but takeoff duration and stability are unaffected by haltere removal. Haltere use thus allows for greater speed and stability during fast escapes, but only in the Calyptratae clade.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Jessica L. Fox
- Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106-7080, USA
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39
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Morimoto MM, Nern A, Zhao A, Rogers EM, Wong AM, Isaacson MD, Bock DD, Rubin GM, Reiser MB. Spatial readout of visual looming in the central brain of Drosophila. eLife 2020; 9:e57685. [PMID: 33205753 PMCID: PMC7744102 DOI: 10.7554/elife.57685] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2020] [Accepted: 11/17/2020] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Visual systems can exploit spatial correlations in the visual scene by using retinotopy, the organizing principle by which neighboring cells encode neighboring spatial locations. However, retinotopy is often lost, such as when visual pathways are integrated with other sensory modalities. How is spatial information processed outside of strictly visual brain areas? Here, we focused on visual looming responsive LC6 cells in Drosophila, a population whose dendrites collectively cover the visual field, but whose axons form a single glomerulus-a structure without obvious retinotopic organization-in the central brain. We identified multiple cell types downstream of LC6 in the glomerulus and found that they more strongly respond to looming in different portions of the visual field, unexpectedly preserving spatial information. Through EM reconstruction of all LC6 synaptic inputs to the glomerulus, we found that LC6 and downstream cell types form circuits within the glomerulus that enable spatial readout of visual features and contralateral suppression-mechanisms that transform visual information for behavioral control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mai M Morimoto
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteAshburnUnited States
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University College LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
| | - Aljoscha Nern
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteAshburnUnited States
| | - Arthur Zhao
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteAshburnUnited States
| | - Edward M Rogers
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteAshburnUnited States
| | - Allan M Wong
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteAshburnUnited States
| | - Mathew D Isaacson
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteAshburnUnited States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell UniversityIthacaUnited States
| | - Davi D Bock
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteAshburnUnited States
- Department of Neurological Sciences, University of VermontBurlingtonUnited States
| | - Gerald M Rubin
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteAshburnUnited States
| | - Michael B Reiser
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteAshburnUnited States
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40
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Cheong HS, Siwanowicz I, Card GM. Multi-regional circuits underlying visually guided decision-making in Drosophila. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2020; 65:77-87. [PMID: 33217639 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2020.10.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2020] [Revised: 09/30/2020] [Accepted: 10/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Visually guided decision-making requires integration of information from distributed brain areas, necessitating a brain-wide approach to examine its neural mechanisms. New tools in Drosophila melanogaster enable circuits spanning the brain to be charted with single cell-type resolution. Here, we highlight recent advances uncovering the computations and circuits that transform and integrate visual information across the brain to make behavioral choices. Visual information flows from the optic lobes to three primary central brain regions: a sensorimotor mapping area and two 'higher' centers for memory or spatial orientation. Rapid decision-making during predator evasion emerges from the spike timing dynamics in parallel sensorimotor cascades. Goal-directed decisions may occur through memory, navigation and valence processing in the central complex and mushroom bodies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Han Sj Cheong
- HHMI Janelia Research Campus, 19700 Helix Drive, Ashburn, VA 20147, United States
| | - Igor Siwanowicz
- HHMI Janelia Research Campus, 19700 Helix Drive, Ashburn, VA 20147, United States
| | - Gwyneth M Card
- HHMI Janelia Research Campus, 19700 Helix Drive, Ashburn, VA 20147, United States.
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41
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Baek M, Lawin KM, Codden CJ, Lim H, Yang E, Kim HY, Lee SI, Jablonski PG. Water strider females use individual experience to adjust jumping behaviour to their weight within physical constraints of water surface tension. Sci Rep 2020; 10:18657. [PMID: 33122643 PMCID: PMC7596521 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-75564-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2020] [Accepted: 09/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Different species of water striders match leg speeds to their body sizes to maximize their jump take off velocity without breaking the water surface, which might have aided evolution of leg structures optimized for exploitation of the water surface tension. It is not understood how water striders achieve this match. Can individuals modify their leg movements based on their body mass and locomotor experience? Here we tested if water striders, Gerris latiabdominis, adjust jumping behaviour based on their personal experience and how an experimentally added body weight affects this process. Females, but not males, modified their jumping behaviour in weight-dependent manner, but only when they experienced frequent jumping. They did so within the environmental constraint set by the physics of water surface tension. Females' ability to adjust jumping may represent their adaptation to frequent increases or decreases of the weight that they support as mating bouts, during which males ride on top of females, start or end, respectively. This suggests that natural selection for optimized biomechanics combined with sexual selection for mating adaptations shapes this ability to optimally exploit water surface tension, which might have aided adaptive radiation of Gerromorpha into a diversity of semiaquatic niches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Minjung Baek
- Laboratory of Behavioral Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Korea
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB), University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA
| | - Katherine M Lawin
- University of St. Thomas, 2115 Summit Ave., St. Paul, MN, 55105, USA
| | | | - Hangkyo Lim
- University of St. Thomas, 2115 Summit Ave., St. Paul, MN, 55105, USA
- Notre Dame of Maryland University, 4701 North Charles St, Baltimore, MD, 21210, USA
| | - Eunjin Yang
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Korea
- Institute of Advanced Machines and Design, Gwanak-ro 1, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, 08826, Korea
| | - Ho-Young Kim
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Korea.
- Institute of Advanced Machines and Design, Gwanak-ro 1, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, 08826, Korea.
| | - Sang-Im Lee
- Laboratory of Integrative Animal Ecology (IAE), Department of New Biology, Daegu-Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, Daegu, 42988, Korea.
| | - Piotr G Jablonski
- Laboratory of Behavioral Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Korea.
- Museum and Institute of Zoology PAS, Wilcza 64, 00-679, Warsaw, Poland.
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42
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Phan HV, Aurecianus S, Au TKL, Kang T, Park HC. Towards the Long-Endurance Flight of an Insect-Inspired, Tailless, Two-Winged, Flapping-Wing Flying Robot. IEEE Robot Autom Lett 2020. [DOI: 10.1109/lra.2020.3005127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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43
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Court R, Namiki S, Armstrong JD, Börner J, Card G, Costa M, Dickinson M, Duch C, Korff W, Mann R, Merritt D, Murphey RK, Seeds AM, Shirangi T, Simpson JH, Truman JW, Tuthill JC, Williams DW, Shepherd D. A Systematic Nomenclature for the Drosophila Ventral Nerve Cord. Neuron 2020; 107:1071-1079.e2. [PMID: 32931755 PMCID: PMC7611823 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2020.08.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2020] [Revised: 06/30/2020] [Accepted: 08/05/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Drosophila melanogaster is an established model for neuroscience research with relevance in biology and medicine. Until recently, research on the Drosophila brain was hindered by the lack of a complete and uniform nomenclature. Recognizing this, Ito et al. (2014) produced an authoritative nomenclature for the adult insect brain, using Drosophila as the reference. Here, we extend this nomenclature to the adult thoracic and abdominal neuromeres, the ventral nerve cord (VNC), to provide an anatomical description of this major component of the Drosophila nervous system. The VNC is the locus for the reception and integration of sensory information and involved in generating most of the locomotor actions that underlie fly behaviors. The aim is to create a nomenclature, definitions, and spatial boundaries for the Drosophila VNC that are consistent with other insects. The work establishes an anatomical framework that provides a powerful tool for analyzing the functional organization of the VNC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Court
- School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9AB, UK
| | - Shigehiro Namiki
- HHMI-Janelia Research Campus, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA; RCAST, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 153-8904, Japan
| | | | - Jana Börner
- Biological Sciences, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USA
| | - Gwyneth Card
- HHMI-Janelia Research Campus, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA
| | - Marta Costa
- Virtual Fly Brain, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, UK
| | - Michael Dickinson
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, The California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
| | - Carsten Duch
- iDN, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Wyatt Korff
- HHMI-Janelia Research Campus, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA
| | - Richard Mann
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
| | - David Merritt
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Rod K Murphey
- Biological Sciences, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USA
| | - Andrew M Seeds
- Institute of Neurobiology, University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
| | - Troy Shirangi
- Department of Biology, Villanova University, Villanova, PA 19085, USA
| | - Julie H Simpson
- Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
| | - James W Truman
- HHMI-Janelia Research Campus, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA; Friday Harbor Laboratories, University of Washington, Friday Harbor, WA 98250, USA
| | - John C Tuthill
- Department of Physiology & Biophysics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Darren W Williams
- Centre for Developmental Neurobiology, King's College London, London WC2R 2LS, UK
| | - David Shepherd
- School of Natural Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor LL57 2UW, Bangor, UK.
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44
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Behavioral and neuronal underpinnings of safety in numbers in fruit flies. Nat Commun 2020; 11:4182. [PMID: 32826882 PMCID: PMC7442810 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-17856-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2019] [Accepted: 07/20/2020] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Living in a group allows individuals to decrease their defenses, enabling other beneficial behaviors such as foraging. The detection of a threat through social cues is widely reported, however, the safety cues that guide animals to break away from a defensive behavior and resume alternate activities remain elusive. Here we show that fruit flies display a graded decrease in freezing behavior, triggered by an inescapable threat, with increasing group sizes. Furthermore, flies use the cessation of movement of other flies as a cue of threat and its resumption as a cue of safety. Finally, we find that lobula columnar neurons, LC11, mediate the propensity for freezing flies to resume moving in response to the movement of others. By identifying visual motion cues, and the neurons involved in their processing, as the basis of a social safety cue this study brings new insights into the neuronal basis of safety in numbers.
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45
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46
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Valentini G, Mizumoto N, Pratt SC, Pavlic TP, Walker SI. Revealing the structure of information flows discriminates similar animal social behaviors. eLife 2020; 9:e55395. [PMID: 32730203 PMCID: PMC7392607 DOI: 10.7554/elife.55395] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2020] [Accepted: 07/09/2020] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Behavioral correlations stretching over time are an essential but often neglected aspect of interactions among animals. These correlations pose a challenge to current behavioral-analysis methods that lack effective means to analyze complex series of interactions. Here we show that non-invasive information-theoretic tools can be used to reveal communication protocols that guide complex social interactions by measuring simultaneous flows of different types of information between subjects. We demonstrate this approach by showing that the tandem-running behavior of the ant Temnothorax rugatulus and that of the termites Coptotermes formosanus and Reticulitermes speratus are governed by different communication protocols. Our discovery reconciles the diverse ultimate causes of tandem running across these two taxa with their apparently similar signaling mechanisms. We show that bidirectional flow of information is present only in ants and is consistent with the use of acknowledgement signals to regulate the flow of directional information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriele Valentini
- Arizona State University, School of Earth and Space ExplorationTempeUnited States
- Arizona State University, School of Life SciencesTempeUnited States
| | - Nobuaki Mizumoto
- Arizona State University, School of Life SciencesTempeUnited States
- Okinawa Institute of Science & Technology Graduate University, Onna-sonOkinawaJapan
| | - Stephen C Pratt
- Arizona State University, School of Life SciencesTempeUnited States
- Arizona State University, ASU–SFI Center for Biosocial Complex SystemsTempeUnited States
| | - Theodore P Pavlic
- Arizona State University, School of Life SciencesTempeUnited States
- Arizona State University, ASU–SFI Center for Biosocial Complex SystemsTempeUnited States
- Arizona State University, Beyond Center for Fundamental Concepts in ScienceTempeUnited States
- Arizona State University, School of Computing, Informatics, and Decision Systems EngineeringTempeUnited States
- Arizona State University, School of SustainabilityTempeUnited States
| | - Sara I Walker
- Arizona State University, School of Earth and Space ExplorationTempeUnited States
- Arizona State University, ASU–SFI Center for Biosocial Complex SystemsTempeUnited States
- Arizona State University, Beyond Center for Fundamental Concepts in ScienceTempeUnited States
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47
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Yang X, Liu Q, Zhong J, Song R, Zhang L, Wang L. A simple threat-detection strategy in mice. BMC Biol 2020; 18:93. [PMID: 32727449 PMCID: PMC7388474 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-020-00825-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2020] [Accepted: 07/06/2020] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Avoiding danger and accessing environmental resources are two fundamental, yet conflicting, survival instincts across species. To maintain a balance between these instincts, animals must efficiently distinguish approaching threats from low-threat cues. However, little is known about the key visual features that animals use to promptly detect such imminent danger and thus facilitate an immediate and appropriate behavioral response. RESULTS We used an automatic behavior detection system in mice to quantify innate defensive behaviors, including freezing, flight, and rearing, to a series of looming visual stimuli with varying expanding speeds and varying initial and final sizes. Looming visual stimuli within a specific "alert range" induced flight behavior in mice. Looming stimuli with an angular size of 10-40° and an expanding speed of 57-320°/s were in this range. Stimuli with relatively low expanding speeds tended to trigger freezing behavior, while those with relatively high expanding speeds tended to trigger rearing behavior. If approaching objects are in this "alert range," their visual features will trigger a flight response; however, non-threatening objects, based on object size and speed, will not. CONCLUSIONS These results indicate a simple strategy in mice that is used to detect predators and suggest countermeasures that predators may have taken to overcome these defensive strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xing Yang
- Shenzhen Key Lab of Neuropsychiatric Modulation and Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Brain Connectome and Behavior, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, the Brain Cognition and Brain Disease Institute (BCBDI), Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen-Hong Kong Institute of Brain Science-Shenzhen Fundamental Research Institutions, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Qingqing Liu
- Shenzhen Key Lab of Neuropsychiatric Modulation and Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Brain Connectome and Behavior, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, the Brain Cognition and Brain Disease Institute (BCBDI), Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen-Hong Kong Institute of Brain Science-Shenzhen Fundamental Research Institutions, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Jinling Zhong
- Shenzhen Key Lab of Neuropsychiatric Modulation and Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Brain Connectome and Behavior, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, the Brain Cognition and Brain Disease Institute (BCBDI), Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen-Hong Kong Institute of Brain Science-Shenzhen Fundamental Research Institutions, Shenzhen, 518055, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Ru Song
- Shenzhen Key Lab of Neuropsychiatric Modulation and Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Brain Connectome and Behavior, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, the Brain Cognition and Brain Disease Institute (BCBDI), Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen-Hong Kong Institute of Brain Science-Shenzhen Fundamental Research Institutions, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Lin Zhang
- Shenzhen Key Lab of Neuropsychiatric Modulation and Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Brain Connectome and Behavior, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, the Brain Cognition and Brain Disease Institute (BCBDI), Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen-Hong Kong Institute of Brain Science-Shenzhen Fundamental Research Institutions, Shenzhen, 518055, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Liping Wang
- Shenzhen Key Lab of Neuropsychiatric Modulation and Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Brain Connectome and Behavior, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, the Brain Cognition and Brain Disease Institute (BCBDI), Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen-Hong Kong Institute of Brain Science-Shenzhen Fundamental Research Institutions, Shenzhen, 518055, China.
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48
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Tanaka R, Clark DA. Object-Displacement-Sensitive Visual Neurons Drive Freezing in Drosophila. Curr Biol 2020; 30:2532-2550.e8. [PMID: 32442466 PMCID: PMC8716191 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.04.068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2020] [Revised: 04/22/2020] [Accepted: 04/24/2020] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Visual systems are often equipped with neurons that detect small moving objects, which may represent prey, predators, or conspecifics. Although the processing properties of those neurons have been studied in diverse organisms, links between the proposed algorithms and animal behaviors or circuit mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we have investigated behavioral function, computational algorithm, and neurochemical mechanisms of an object-selective neuron, LC11, in Drosophila. With genetic silencing and optogenetic activation, we show that LC11 is necessary for a visual object-induced stopping behavior in walking flies, a form of short-term freezing, and its activity can promote stopping. We propose a new quantitative model for small object selectivity based on the physiology and anatomy of LC11 and its inputs. The model accurately reproduces LC11 responses by pooling fast-adapting, tightly size-tuned inputs. Direct visualization of neurotransmitter inputs to LC11 confirmed the model conjectures about upstream processing. Our results demonstrate how adaptation can enhance selectivity for behaviorally relevant, dynamic visual features.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryosuke Tanaka
- Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
| | - Damon A Clark
- Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA; Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA; Department of Physics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA; Department of Neuroscience, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.
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49
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Wu JJS, Hung A, Lin YC, Chiao CC. Visual Attack on the Moving Prey by Cuttlefish. Front Physiol 2020; 11:648. [PMID: 32625116 PMCID: PMC7315006 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2020.00648] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2019] [Accepted: 05/20/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Visual attack for prey capture in cuttlefish involves three well characterized sequential stages: attention, positioning, and seizure. This visually guided behavior requires accurate sensorimotor integration of information on the target’s direction and tentacular strike control. While the behavior of cuttlefish visual attack on a stationary prey has been described qualitatively, the kinematics of visual attack on a moving target has not been analyzed quantitatively. A servomotor system controlling the movement of a shrimp prey and a high resolution imaging system recording the behavior of the cuttlefish predator, together with the newly developed DeepLabCut image processing system, were used to examine the tactics used by cuttlefish during a visual attack on moving prey. The results showed that cuttlefish visually tracked a moving prey target using mainly body movement, and that they maintained a similar speed to that of the moving prey right before making their tentacular strike. When cuttlefish shot out their tentacles for prey capture, they were able to either predict the target location based on the prey’s speed and compensate for the inherent sensorimotor delay or adjust the trajectory of their tentacular strike according to the prey’s direction of movement in order to account for any changes in prey position. These observations suggest that cuttlefish use the various visual tactics available to them flexibly in order to capture moving prey, and that they are able to extract direction and speed information from moving prey in order to allow an accurate visual attack.
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Affiliation(s)
- José Jiun-Shian Wu
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
| | - Arthur Hung
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.,Interdisciplinary Program of Sciences, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
| | - Yen-Chen Lin
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.,Interdisciplinary Program of Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
| | - Chuan-Chin Chiao
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.,Department of Life Science, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
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50
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Allen AM, Neville MC, Birtles S, Croset V, Treiber CD, Waddell S, Goodwin SF. A single-cell transcriptomic atlas of the adult Drosophila ventral nerve cord. eLife 2020; 9:e54074. [PMID: 32314735 PMCID: PMC7173974 DOI: 10.7554/elife.54074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2019] [Accepted: 04/03/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The Drosophila ventral nerve cord (VNC) receives and processes descending signals from the brain to produce a variety of coordinated locomotor outputs. It also integrates sensory information from the periphery and sends ascending signals to the brain. We used single-cell transcriptomics to generate an unbiased classification of cellular diversity in the VNC of five-day old adult flies. We produced an atlas of 26,000 high-quality cells, representing more than 100 transcriptionally distinct cell types. The predominant gene signatures defining neuronal cell types reflect shared developmental histories based on the neuroblast from which cells were derived, as well as their birth order. The relative position of cells along the anterior-posterior axis could also be assigned using adult Hox gene expression. This single-cell transcriptional atlas of the adult fly VNC will be a valuable resource for future studies of neurodevelopment and behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aaron M Allen
- Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University of OxfordOxfordUnited Kingdom
| | - Megan C Neville
- Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University of OxfordOxfordUnited Kingdom
| | - Sebastian Birtles
- Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University of OxfordOxfordUnited Kingdom
| | - Vincent Croset
- Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University of OxfordOxfordUnited Kingdom
| | | | - Scott Waddell
- Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University of OxfordOxfordUnited Kingdom
| | - Stephen F Goodwin
- Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University of OxfordOxfordUnited Kingdom
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