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Hoffmann S, Beetz MJ, Stöckl A, Mesce KA. Editorial: Naturalistic neuroscience - Towards a full cycle from lab to field. Front Neural Circuits 2023; 17:1251771. [PMID: 37614244 PMCID: PMC10442932 DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2023.1251771] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2023] [Accepted: 07/26/2023] [Indexed: 08/25/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Susanne Hoffmann
- Department of Behavioural Neurobiology, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany
- Department of Behavioural Neurobiology, Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence, Seewiesen, Germany
| | - M. Jerome Beetz
- Department Zoology II, Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Anna Stöckl
- Department Zoology II, Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Karen A. Mesce
- Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, United States
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Berger Dauxère A, Montagne G, Serres JR. Honeybees Use Multiple Invariants to Control Their Altitude. INSECTS 2023; 14:313. [PMID: 37103128 PMCID: PMC10146580 DOI: 10.3390/insects14040313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2022] [Revised: 02/28/2023] [Accepted: 03/16/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
How do bees perceive altitude changes so as to produce safe displacements within their environment? It has been proved that humans use invariants, but this concept remains little-known within the entomology community. The use of a single invariant, the optical speed rate of change, has been extensively demonstrated in bees in a ground-following task. Recently, it has been demonstrated that another invariant, the splay angle rate of change, could also be used by bees to adjust their altitude. This study aims to understand how bees use these invariants when they are available simultaneously. This issue has been addressed using an experimental setup providing discordant information to bees. We have shown that when the two invariants were available, bees performed ground-following tasks relying primarily on optical speed rate of change. Conversely, when optical speed rate of change was less easily accessible, splay angle rate of change was prioritized, unless the bees perceive danger. Taken together, these results illustrate how the joint use of several invariants allows bees to produce adaptive behaviors.
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Alexander E, Cai LT, Fuchs S, Hladnik TC, Zhang Y, Subramanian V, Guilbeault NC, Vijayakumar C, Arunachalam M, Juntti SA, Thiele TR, Arrenberg AB, Cooper EA. Optic flow in the natural habitats of zebrafish supports spatial biases in visual self-motion estimation. Curr Biol 2022; 32:5008-5021.e8. [PMID: 36327979 PMCID: PMC9729457 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.10.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2022] [Revised: 08/15/2022] [Accepted: 10/05/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Animals benefit from knowing if and how they are moving. Across the animal kingdom, sensory information in the form of optic flow over the visual field is used to estimate self-motion. However, different species exhibit strong spatial biases in how they use optic flow. Here, we show computationally that noisy natural environments favor visual systems that extract spatially biased samples of optic flow when estimating self-motion. The performance associated with these biases, however, depends on interactions between the environment and the animal's brain and behavior. Using the larval zebrafish as a model, we recorded natural optic flow associated with swimming trajectories in the animal's habitat with an omnidirectional camera mounted on a mechanical arm. An analysis of these flow fields suggests that lateral regions of the lower visual field are most informative about swimming speed. This pattern is consistent with the recent findings that zebrafish optomotor responses are preferentially driven by optic flow in the lateral lower visual field, which we extend with behavioral results from a high-resolution spherical arena. Spatial biases in optic-flow sampling are likely pervasive because they are an effective strategy for determining self-motion in noisy natural environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma Alexander
- Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry & Vision Science, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA,Present address: Department of Computer Science, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA,Lead contact,Correspondence:
| | - Lanya T. Cai
- Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry & Vision Science, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA,Present address: Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Sabrina Fuchs
- Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, Institute of Neurobiology, University of Tubingen, 72076 Tubingen, Germany
| | - Tim C. Hladnik
- Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, Institute of Neurobiology, University of Tubingen, 72076 Tubingen, Germany,Graduate Training Centre for Neuroscience, University of Tubingen, 72074 Tubingen, Germany
| | - Yue Zhang
- Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, Institute of Neurobiology, University of Tubingen, 72076 Tubingen, Germany,Graduate Training Centre for Neuroscience, University of Tubingen, 72074 Tubingen, Germany,Present address: Department of Cellular and Systems Neurobiology, Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence in Foundation, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| | - Venkatesh Subramanian
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Nicholas C. Guilbeault
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto M1C 1A4, Canada,Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto M5S 3G5, Canada
| | - Chinnian Vijayakumar
- Department of Zoology, St. Andrew’s College, Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh 273001, India
| | - Muthukumarasamy Arunachalam
- Department of Zoology, School of Biological Sciences, Central University of Kerala, Kerala 671316, India,Present address: Centre for Inland Fishes and Conservation, St. Andrew’s College, Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh 273001, India
| | - Scott A. Juntti
- Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - Tod R. Thiele
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto M1C 1A4, Canada,Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto M5S 3G5, Canada
| | - Aristides B. Arrenberg
- Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, Institute of Neurobiology, University of Tubingen, 72076 Tubingen, Germany
| | - Emily A. Cooper
- Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry & Vision Science, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA,Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
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Sedigh-Sarvestani M, Fitzpatrick D. What and Where: Location-Dependent Feature Sensitivity as a Canonical Organizing Principle of the Visual System. Front Neural Circuits 2022; 16:834876. [PMID: 35498372 PMCID: PMC9039279 DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2022.834876] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2021] [Accepted: 03/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Traditionally, functional representations in early visual areas are conceived as retinotopic maps preserving ego-centric spatial location information while ensuring that other stimulus features are uniformly represented for all locations in space. Recent results challenge this framework of relatively independent encoding of location and features in the early visual system, emphasizing location-dependent feature sensitivities that reflect specialization of cortical circuits for different locations in visual space. Here we review the evidence for such location-specific encoding including: (1) systematic variation of functional properties within conventional retinotopic maps in the cortex; (2) novel periodic retinotopic transforms that dramatically illustrate the tight linkage of feature sensitivity, spatial location, and cortical circuitry; and (3) retinotopic biases in cortical areas, and groups of areas, that have been defined by their functional specializations. We propose that location-dependent feature sensitivity is a fundamental organizing principle of the visual system that achieves efficient representation of positional regularities in visual experience, and reflects the evolutionary selection of sensory and motor circuits to optimally represent behaviorally relevant information. Future studies are necessary to discover mechanisms underlying joint encoding of location and functional information, how this relates to behavior, emerges during development, and varies across species.
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Grittner R, Baird E, Stöckl A. Spatial tuning of translational optic flow responses in hawkmoths of varying body size. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2021; 208:279-296. [PMID: 34893928 PMCID: PMC8934765 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-021-01530-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2021] [Revised: 11/28/2021] [Accepted: 11/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
To safely navigate their environment, flying insects rely on visual cues, such as optic flow. Which cues insects can extract from their environment depends closely on the spatial and temporal response properties of their visual system. These in turn can vary between individuals that differ in body size. How optic flow-based flight control depends on the spatial structure of visual cues, and how this relationship scales with body size, has previously been investigated in insects with apposition compound eyes. Here, we characterised the visual flight control response limits and their relationship to body size in an insect with superposition compound eyes: the hummingbird hawkmoth Macroglossum stellatarum. We used the hawkmoths’ centring response in a flight tunnel as a readout for their reception of translational optic flow stimuli of different spatial frequencies. We show that their responses cut off at different spatial frequencies when translational optic flow was presented on either one, or both tunnel walls. Combined with differences in flight speed, this suggests that their flight control was primarily limited by their temporal rather than spatial resolution. We also observed strong individual differences in flight performance, but no correlation between the spatial response cutoffs and body or eye size.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca Grittner
- Behavioral Physiology and Sociobiology (Zoology II), University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Emily Baird
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Anna Stöckl
- Behavioral Physiology and Sociobiology (Zoology II), University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
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Berger Dauxère A, Serres JR, Montagne G. Ecological Entomology: How Is Gibson's Framework Useful? INSECTS 2021; 12:1075. [PMID: 34940163 PMCID: PMC8703479 DOI: 10.3390/insects12121075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2021] [Revised: 11/25/2021] [Accepted: 11/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
To date, numerous studies have demonstrated the fundamental role played by optic flow in the control of goal-directed displacement tasks in insects. Optic flow was first introduced by Gibson as part of their ecological approach to perception and action. While this theoretical approach (as a whole) has been demonstrated to be particularly suitable for the study of goal-directed displacements in humans, its usefulness in carrying out entomological field studies remains to be established. In this review we would like to demonstrate that the ecological approach to perception and action could be relevant for the entomologist community in their future investigations. This approach could provide a conceptual and methodological framework for the community in order to: (i) take a critical look at the research carried out to date, (ii) develop rigorous and innovative experimental protocols, and (iii) define scientific issues that push the boundaries of the current scientific field. After a concise literature review about the perceptual control of displacement in insects, we will present the framework proposed by Gibson and suggest its added value for carrying out research in the field of behavioral ecology in insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aimie Berger Dauxère
- The Institute of Movement Sciences, Aix Marseille University, CNRS, ISM, CEDEX 07, 13284 Marseille, France; (J.R.S.); (G.M.)
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