1
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Dan C, Hulse BK, Kappagantula R, Jayaraman V, Hermundstad AM. A neural circuit architecture for rapid learning in goal-directed navigation. Neuron 2024; 112:2581-2599.e23. [PMID: 38795708 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2024.04.036] [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: 01/03/2023] [Revised: 01/16/2024] [Accepted: 04/30/2024] [Indexed: 05/28/2024]
Abstract
Anchoring goals to spatial representations enables flexible navigation but is challenging in novel environments when both representations must be acquired simultaneously. We propose a framework for how Drosophila uses internal representations of head direction (HD) to build goal representations upon selective thermal reinforcement. We show that flies use stochastically generated fixations and directed saccades to express heading preferences in an operant visual learning paradigm and that HD neurons are required to modify these preferences based on reinforcement. We used a symmetric visual setting to expose how flies' HD and goal representations co-evolve and how the reliability of these interacting representations impacts behavior. Finally, we describe how rapid learning of new goal headings may rest on a behavioral policy whose parameters are flexible but whose form is genetically encoded in circuit architecture. Such evolutionarily structured architectures, which enable rapidly adaptive behavior driven by internal representations, may be relevant across species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chuntao Dan
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA
| | - Brad K Hulse
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA
| | - Ramya Kappagantula
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA
| | - Vivek Jayaraman
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA.
| | - Ann M Hermundstad
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA.
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2
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Garner D, Kind E, Nern A, Houghton L, Zhao A, Sancer G, Rubin GM, Wernet MF, Kim SS. Connectomic reconstruction predicts the functional organization of visual inputs to the navigation center of the Drosophila brain. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.11.29.569241. [PMID: 38076786 PMCID: PMC10705420 DOI: 10.1101/2023.11.29.569241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2023]
Abstract
Many animals, including humans, navigate their surroundings by visual input, yet we understand little about how visual information is transformed and integrated by the navigation system. In Drosophila melanogaster, compass neurons in the donut-shaped ellipsoid body of the central complex generate a sense of direction by integrating visual input from ring neurons, a part of the anterior visual pathway (AVP). Here, we densely reconstruct all neurons in the AVP using FlyWire, an AI-assisted tool for analyzing electron-microscopy data. The AVP comprises four neuropils, sequentially linked by three major classes of neurons: MeTu neurons, which connect the medulla in the optic lobe to the small unit of anterior optic tubercle (AOTUsu) in the central brain; TuBu neurons, which connect the anterior optic tubercle to the bulb neuropil; and ring neurons, which connect the bulb to the ellipsoid body. Based on neuronal morphologies, connectivity between different neural classes, and the locations of synapses, we identified non-overlapping channels originating from four types of MeTu neurons, which we further divided into ten subtypes based on the presynaptic connections in medulla and postsynaptic connections in AOTUsu. To gain an objective measure of the natural variation within the pathway, we quantified the differences between anterior visual pathways from both hemispheres and between two electron-microscopy datasets. Furthermore, we infer potential visual features and the visual area from which any given ring neuron receives input by combining the connectivity of the entire AVP, the MeTu neurons' dendritic fields, and presynaptic connectivity in the optic lobes. These results provide a strong foundation for understanding how distinct visual features are extracted and transformed across multiple processing stages to provide critical information for computing the fly's sense of direction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dustin Garner
- Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - Emil Kind
- Department of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Aljoscha Nern
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | - Lucy Houghton
- Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - Arthur Zhao
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | - Gizem Sancer
- Department of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Gerald M. Rubin
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | | | - Sung Soo Kim
- Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
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3
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Barron AB, Mourmourakis F. The Relationship between Cognition and Brain Size or Neuron Number. BRAIN, BEHAVIOR AND EVOLUTION 2023; 99:109-122. [PMID: 37487478 DOI: 10.1159/000532013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2023] [Accepted: 07/05/2023] [Indexed: 07/26/2023]
Abstract
The comparative approach is a powerful way to explore the relationship between brain structure and cognitive function. Thus far, the field has been dominated by the assumption that a bigger brain somehow means better cognition. Correlations between differences in brain size or neuron number between species and differences in specific cognitive abilities exist, but these correlations are very noisy. Extreme differences exist between clades in the relationship between either brain size or neuron number and specific cognitive abilities. This means that correlations become weaker, not stronger, as the taxonomic diversity of sampled groups increases. Cognition is the outcome of neural networks. Here we propose that considering plausible neural network models will advance our understanding of the complex relationships between neuron number and different aspects of cognition. Computational modelling of networks suggests that adding pathways, or layers, or changing patterns of connectivity in a network can all have different specific consequences for cognition. Consequently, models of computational architecture can help us hypothesise how and why differences in neuron number might be related to differences in cognition. As methods in connectomics continue to improve and more structural information on animal brains becomes available, we are learning more about natural network structures in brains, and we can develop more biologically plausible models of cognitive architecture. Natural animal diversity then becomes a powerful resource to both test the assumptions of these models and explore hypotheses for how neural network structure and network size might delimit cognitive function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew B Barron
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Faelan Mourmourakis
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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4
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Wilson RI. Neural Networks for Navigation: From Connections to Computations. Annu Rev Neurosci 2023; 46:403-423. [PMID: 37428603 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-neuro-110920-032645] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/12/2023]
Abstract
Many animals can navigate toward a goal they cannot see based on an internal representation of that goal in the brain's spatial maps. These maps are organized around networks with stable fixed-point dynamics (attractors), anchored to landmarks, and reciprocally connected to motor control. This review summarizes recent progress in understanding these networks, focusing on studies in arthropods. One factor driving recent progress is the availability of the Drosophila connectome; however, it is increasingly clear that navigation depends on ongoing synaptic plasticity in these networks. Functional synapses appear to be continually reselected from the set of anatomical potential synapses based on the interaction of Hebbian learning rules, sensory feedback, attractor dynamics, and neuromodulation. This can explain how the brain's maps of space are rapidly updated; it may also explain how the brain can initialize goals as stable fixed points for navigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel I Wilson
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA;
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5
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Steele TJ, Lanz AJ, Nagel KI. Olfactory navigation in arthropods. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2023; 209:467-488. [PMID: 36658447 PMCID: PMC10354148 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-022-01611-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2022] [Revised: 12/26/2022] [Accepted: 12/31/2022] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
Using odors to find food and mates is one of the most ancient and highly conserved behaviors. Arthropods from flies to moths to crabs use broadly similar strategies to navigate toward odor sources-such as integrating flow information with odor information, comparing odor concentration across sensors, and integrating odor information over time. Because arthropods share many homologous brain structures-antennal lobes for processing olfactory information, mechanosensors for processing flow, mushroom bodies (or hemi-ellipsoid bodies) for associative learning, and central complexes for navigation, it is likely that these closely related behaviors are mediated by conserved neural circuits. However, differences in the types of odors they seek, the physics of odor dispersal, and the physics of locomotion in water, air, and on substrates mean that these circuits must have adapted to generate a wide diversity of odor-seeking behaviors. In this review, we discuss common strategies and specializations observed in olfactory navigation behavior across arthropods, and review our current knowledge about the neural circuits subserving this behavior. We propose that a comparative study of arthropod nervous systems may provide insight into how a set of basic circuit structures has diversified to generate behavior adapted to different environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Theresa J Steele
- Neuroscience Institute, NYU School of Medicine, 435 E 30th St., New York, NY, 10016, USA
| | - Aaron J Lanz
- Neuroscience Institute, NYU School of Medicine, 435 E 30th St., New York, NY, 10016, USA
| | - Katherine I Nagel
- Neuroscience Institute, NYU School of Medicine, 435 E 30th St., New York, NY, 10016, USA.
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6
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Duan W, Zhang Y, Zhang X, Yang J, Shan H, Liu L, Wei H. A Visual Pathway into Central Complex for High-Frequency Motion-Defined Bars in Drosophila. J Neurosci 2023; 43:4821-4836. [PMID: 37290936 PMCID: PMC10312062 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0128-23.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2023] [Revised: 05/31/2023] [Accepted: 06/02/2023] [Indexed: 06/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Relative motion breaks a camouflaged target from a same-textured background, thus eliciting discrimination of a motion-defined object. Ring (R) neurons are critical components in the Drosophila central complex, which has been implicated in multiple visually guided behaviors. Using two-photon calcium imaging with female flies, we demonstrated that a specific population of R neurons that innervate the superior domain of bulb neuropil, termed superior R neurons, encoded a motion-defined bar with high spatial frequency contents. Upstream superior tuberculo-bulbar (TuBu) neurons transmitted visual signals by releasing acetylcholine within synapses connected with superior R neurons. Blocking TuBu or R neurons impaired tracking performance of the bar, which reveals their importance in motion-defined feature encoding. Additionally, the presentation of a low spatial frequency luminance-defined bar evoked consistent excitation in R neurons of the superior bulb, whereas either excited or inhibited responses were evoked in the inferior bulb. The distinct properties of the responses to the two bar stimuli indicate there is a functional division between the bulb subdomains. Moreover, physiological and behavioral tests with restricted lines suggest that R4d neurons play a vital role in tracking motion-defined bars. We conclude that the central complex receives the motion-defined features via a visual pathway from superior TuBu to R neurons and might encode different visual features via distinct response patterns at the population level, thereby driving visually guided behaviors.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Animals could discriminate a motion-defined object that is indistinguishable with a same-textured background until it moves, but little is known about the underlying neural mechanisms. In this study, we identified that R neurons and their upstream partners, TuBu neurons, innervating the superior bulb of Drosophila central brain are involved in the discrimination of high-frequency motion-defined bars. Our study provides new evidence that R neurons receive multiple visual inputs from distinct upstream neurons, indicating a population coding mechanism for the fly central brain to discriminate diverse visual features. These results build progress in unraveling neural substrates for visually guided behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenlan Duan
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
- College of Life Sciences, University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100039, China
| | - Yihao Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
- College of Life Sciences, University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100039, China
| | - Xin Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
- College of Life Sciences, University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100039, China
| | - Jihua Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
- College of Life Sciences, University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100039, China
| | - Heying Shan
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Li Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
- College of Life Sciences, University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100039, China
- Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Hongying Wei
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
- College of Life Sciences, University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100039, China
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7
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Currier TA, Pang MM, Clandinin TR. Visual processing in the fly, from photoreceptors to behavior. Genetics 2023; 224:iyad064. [PMID: 37128740 PMCID: PMC10213501 DOI: 10.1093/genetics/iyad064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2022] [Accepted: 03/22/2023] [Indexed: 05/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Originally a genetic model organism, the experimental use of Drosophila melanogaster has grown to include quantitative behavioral analyses, sophisticated perturbations of neuronal function, and detailed sensory physiology. A highlight of these developments can be seen in the context of vision, where pioneering studies have uncovered fundamental and generalizable principles of sensory processing. Here we begin with an overview of vision-guided behaviors and common methods for probing visual circuits. We then outline the anatomy and physiology of brain regions involved in visual processing, beginning at the sensory periphery and ending with descending motor control. Areas of focus include contrast and motion detection in the optic lobe, circuits for visual feature selectivity, computations in support of spatial navigation, and contextual associative learning. Finally, we look to the future of fly visual neuroscience and discuss promising topics for further study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy A Currier
- Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Michelle M Pang
- Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Thomas R Clandinin
- Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
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8
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Sorkaç A, Moșneanu RA, Crown AM, Savaş D, Okoro AM, Memiş E, Talay M, Barnea G. retro-Tango enables versatile retrograde circuit tracing in Drosophila. eLife 2023; 12:e85041. [PMID: 37166114 PMCID: PMC10208638 DOI: 10.7554/elife.85041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2022] [Accepted: 05/11/2023] [Indexed: 05/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Transsynaptic tracing methods are crucial tools in studying neural circuits. Although a couple of anterograde tracing methods and a targeted retrograde tool have been developed in Drosophila melanogaster, there is still need for an unbiased, user-friendly, and flexible retrograde tracing system. Here, we describe retro-Tango, a method for transsynaptic, retrograde circuit tracing and manipulation in Drosophila. In this genetically encoded system, a ligand-receptor interaction at the synapse triggers an intracellular signaling cascade that results in reporter gene expression in presynaptic neurons. Importantly, panneuronal expression of the elements of the cascade renders this method versatile, enabling its use not only to test hypotheses but also to generate them. We validate retro-Tango in various circuits and benchmark it by comparing our findings with the electron microscopy reconstruction of the Drosophila hemibrain. Our experiments establish retro-Tango as a key method for circuit tracing in neuroscience research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Altar Sorkaç
- Department of Neuroscience, Brown UniversityProvidenceUnited States
- Carney Institute for Brain Science, Brown UniversityProvidenceUnited States
| | - Rareș A Moșneanu
- Department of Neuroscience, Brown UniversityProvidenceUnited States
- Carney Institute for Brain Science, Brown UniversityProvidenceUnited States
| | - Anthony M Crown
- Department of Neuroscience, Brown UniversityProvidenceUnited States
- Carney Institute for Brain Science, Brown UniversityProvidenceUnited States
| | - Doruk Savaş
- Department of Neuroscience, Brown UniversityProvidenceUnited States
- Carney Institute for Brain Science, Brown UniversityProvidenceUnited States
| | - Angel M Okoro
- Department of Neuroscience, Brown UniversityProvidenceUnited States
- Carney Institute for Brain Science, Brown UniversityProvidenceUnited States
| | - Ezgi Memiş
- Department of Neuroscience, Brown UniversityProvidenceUnited States
- Carney Institute for Brain Science, Brown UniversityProvidenceUnited States
| | - Mustafa Talay
- Department of Neuroscience, Brown UniversityProvidenceUnited States
- Carney Institute for Brain Science, Brown UniversityProvidenceUnited States
| | - Gilad Barnea
- Department of Neuroscience, Brown UniversityProvidenceUnited States
- Carney Institute for Brain Science, Brown UniversityProvidenceUnited States
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9
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Kandimalla P, Omoto JJ, Hong EJ, Hartenstein V. Lineages to circuits: the developmental and evolutionary architecture of information channels into the central complex. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2023:10.1007/s00359-023-01616-y. [PMID: 36932234 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-023-01616-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2022] [Revised: 01/27/2023] [Accepted: 01/28/2023] [Indexed: 03/19/2023]
Abstract
The representation and integration of internal and external cues is crucial for any organism to execute appropriate behaviors. In insects, a highly conserved region of the brain, the central complex (CX), functions in the representation of spatial information and behavioral states, as well as the transformation of this information into desired navigational commands. How does this relatively invariant structure enable the incorporation of information from the diversity of anatomical, behavioral, and ecological niches occupied by insects? Here, we examine the input channels to the CX in the context of their development and evolution. Insect brains develop from ~ 100 neuroblasts per hemisphere that divide systematically to form "lineages" of sister neurons, that project to their target neuropils along anatomically characteristic tracts. Overlaying this developmental tract information onto the recently generated Drosophila "hemibrain" connectome and integrating this information with the anatomical and physiological recording of neurons in other species, we observe neuropil and lineage-specific innervation, connectivity, and activity profiles in CX input channels. We posit that the proliferative potential of neuroblasts and the lineage-based architecture of information channels enable the modification of neural networks across existing, novel, and deprecated modalities in a species-specific manner, thus forming the substrate for the evolution and diversification of insect navigational circuits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pratyush Kandimalla
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA. .,Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
| | - Jaison Jiro Omoto
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.,Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Elizabeth J Hong
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Volker Hartenstein
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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10
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Fisher YE, Marquis M, D'Alessandro I, Wilson RI. Dopamine promotes head direction plasticity during orienting movements. Nature 2022; 612:316-322. [PMID: 36450986 PMCID: PMC9729112 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05485-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2022] [Accepted: 10/25/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022]
Abstract
In neural networks that store information in their connection weights, there is a tradeoff between sensitivity and stability1,2. Connections must be plastic to incorporate new information, but if they are too plastic, stored information can be corrupted. A potential solution is to allow plasticity only during epochs when task-specific information is rich, on the basis of a 'when-to-learn' signal3. We reasoned that dopamine provides a when-to-learn signal that allows the brain's spatial maps to update when new spatial information is available-that is, when an animal is moving. Here we show that the dopamine neurons innervating the Drosophila head direction network are specifically active when the fly turns to change its head direction. Moreover, their activity scales with moment-to-moment fluctuations in rotational speed. Pairing dopamine release with a visual cue persistently strengthens the cue's influence on head direction cells. Conversely, inhibiting these dopamine neurons decreases the influence of the cue. This mechanism should accelerate learning during moments when orienting movements are providing a rich stream of head direction information, allowing learning rates to be low at other times to protect stored information. Our results show how spatial learning in the brain can be compressed into discrete epochs in which high learning rates are matched to high rates of information intake.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yvette E Fisher
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
- Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Michael Marquis
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Rachel I Wilson
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
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11
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Chen PJ, Li Y, Lee CH. Calcium Imaging of Neural Activity in Fly Photoreceptors. Cold Spring Harb Protoc 2022; 2022:Pdb.top107800. [PMID: 35641092 DOI: 10.1101/pdb.top107800] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Functional imaging methodologies allow researchers to simultaneously monitor the neural activities of all single neurons in a population, and this ability has led to great advances in neuroscience research. Taking advantage of a genetically tractable model organism, functional imaging in Drosophila provides opportunities to probe scientific questions that were previously unanswerable by electrophysiological recordings. Here, we introduce comprehensive protocols for two-photon calcium imaging in fly visual neurons. We also discuss some challenges in applying optical imaging techniques to study visual systems and consider the best practices for making comparisons between different neuron groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pei-Ju Chen
- Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan, Republic of China
| | - Yan Li
- Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan, Republic of China
| | - Chi-Hon Lee
- Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan, Republic of China
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12
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The best of both worlds: Dual systems of reasoning in animals and AI. Cognition 2022; 225:105118. [PMID: 35453083 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105118] [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: 02/10/2021] [Revised: 03/29/2022] [Accepted: 04/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Much of human cognition involves two different types of reasoning that operate together. Type 1 reasoning systems are intuitive and fast, whereas Type 2 reasoning systems are reflective and slow. Why has our cognition evolved with these features? Both systems are coherent and in most ecological circumstances either alone is capable of coming up with the right answer most of the time. Neural tissue is costly, and thus far evolutionary models have struggled to identify a benefit of operating two systems of reasoning. To explore this issue we take a broad comparative perspective. We discuss how dual processes of cognition have enabled the emergence of selective attention in insects, transforming the learning capacities of these animals. Modern AIs using dual systems of learning are able to learn how their vast world works and how best to interact with it, allowing them to exceed human levels of performance in strategy games. We propose that the core benefits of dual processes of reasoning are to narrow down a problem space in order to focus cognitive resources most effectively.
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13
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Frighetto G, Zordan MA, Castiello U, Megighian A, Martin JR. Dopamine Modulation of Drosophila Ellipsoid Body Neurons, a Nod to the Mammalian Basal Ganglia. Front Physiol 2022; 13:849142. [PMID: 35492587 PMCID: PMC9048027 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2022.849142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2022] [Accepted: 03/10/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
The central complex (CX) is a neural structure located on the midline of the insect brain that has been widely studied in the last few years. Its role in navigation and goal-oriented behaviors resembles those played by the basal ganglia in mammals. However, the neural mechanisms and the neurotransmitters involved in these processes remain unclear. Here, we exploited an in vivo bioluminescence Ca2+ imaging technique to record the activity in targeted neurons of the ellipsoid body (EB). We used different drugs to evoke excitatory Ca2+-responses, depending on the putative neurotransmitter released by their presynaptic inputs, while concomitant dopamine administration was employed to modulate those excitations. By using a genetic approach to knockdown the dopamine 1-like receptors, we showed that different dopamine modulatory effects are likely due to specific receptors expressed by the targeted population of neurons. Altogether, these results provide new data concerning how dopamine modulates and shapes the response of the ellipsoid body neurons. Moreover, they provide important insights regarding the similitude with mammals as far as the role played by dopamine in increasing and stabilizing the response of goal-related information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanni Frighetto
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
- Institut des Neurosciences Paris-Saclay, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, Saclay, France
| | - Mauro A. Zordan
- Department of Biology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
- Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Umberto Castiello
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Aram Megighian
- Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Jean-René Martin
- Institut des Neurosciences Paris-Saclay, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, Saclay, France
- *Correspondence: Jean-René Martin,
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14
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Flexible navigational computations in the Drosophila central complex. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2022; 73:102514. [DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2021.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2021] [Revised: 12/12/2021] [Accepted: 12/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
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15
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Ning J, Li Z, Zhang X, Wang J, Chen D, Liu Q, Sun Y. Behavioral signatures of structured feature detection during courtship in Drosophila. Curr Biol 2022; 32:1211-1231.e7. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.01.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2021] [Revised: 11/27/2021] [Accepted: 01/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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16
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Takahashi N, Zittrell F, Hensgen R, Homberg U. Receptive field structures for two celestial compass cues at the input stage of the central complex in the locust brain. J Exp Biol 2022; 225:274503. [DOI: 10.1242/jeb.243858] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2021] [Accepted: 01/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Successful navigation depends on an animal's ability to perceive its spatial orientation relative to visual surroundings. Heading direction in insects is represented in the central complex (CX), a navigation center in the brain, to generate steering commands. In insects that navigate relative to sky compass signals, CX neurons are tuned to celestial cues indicating the location of the sun. The desert locust CX contains a compass-like representation of two related celestial cues: the direction of unpolarized direct sunlight and the pattern of polarized light, which depends on the sun position. Whether congruent tuning to these two compass cues emerges within the CX network or is inherited from CX input neurons is unclear. To address this question, we intracellularly recorded from GABA-immunoreactive TL neurons, input elements to the locust CX (corresponding to R neurons in Drosophila), while applying visual stimuli simulating unpolarized sunlight and polarized light across the hemisphere above the animal. We show that TL neurons have large receptive fields for both types of stimuli. However, faithful integration of polarization angles across the dorsal hemisphere, or matched-filter ability to encode particular sun positions, was found in only two out of 22 recordings. Those two neurons also showed a good match in sun position coding through polarized and unpolarized light signaling, whereas 20 neurons showed substantial mismatch in signaling of the two compass cues. The data, therefore, suggest that considerable refinement of azimuth coding based on sky compass signals occurs at the synapses from TL neurons to postsynaptic CX compass neurons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Naomi Takahashi
- Department of Biology, Animal Physiology, Philipps-Universität Marburg, D-35032 Marburg, Germany
| | - Frederick Zittrell
- Department of Biology, Animal Physiology, Philipps-Universität Marburg, D-35032 Marburg, Germany
| | - Ronja Hensgen
- Department of Biology, Animal Physiology, Philipps-Universität Marburg, D-35032 Marburg, Germany
| | - Uwe Homberg
- Department of Biology, Animal Physiology, Philipps-Universität Marburg, D-35032 Marburg, Germany
- Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany
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17
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Internal state effects on behavioral shifts in freely behaving praying mantises (Tenodera sinensis). PLoS Comput Biol 2021; 17:e1009618. [PMID: 34928939 PMCID: PMC8751982 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009618] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2021] [Revised: 01/11/2022] [Accepted: 11/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
How we interact with our environment largely depends on both the external cues presented by our surroundings and the internal state from within. Internal states are the ever-changing physiological conditions that communicate the immediate survival needs and motivate the animal to behaviorally fulfill them. Satiety level constitutes such a state, and therefore has a dynamic influence on the output behaviors of an animal. In predatory insects like the praying mantis, hunting tactics, grooming, and mating have been shown to change hierarchical organization of behaviors depending on satiety. Here, we analyze behavior sequences of freely hunting praying mantises (Tenodera sinensis) to explore potential differences in sequential patterning of behavior as a correlate of satiety. First, our data supports previous work that showed starved praying mantises were not just more often attentive to prey, but also more often attentive to further prey. This was indicated by the increased time fraction spent in attentive bouts such as prey monitoring, head turns (to track prey), translations (closing the distance to the prey), and more strike attempts. With increasing satiety, praying mantises showed reduced time in these behaviors and exhibited them primarily towards close-proximity prey. Furthermore, our data demonstrates that during states of starvation, the praying mantis exhibits a stereotyped pattern of behavior that is highly motivated by prey capture. As satiety increased, the sequenced behaviors became more variable, indicating a shift away from the necessity of prey capture to more fluid presentations of behavior assembly.
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18
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Excessive energy expenditure due to acute physical restraint disrupts Drosophila motivational feeding response. Sci Rep 2021; 11:24208. [PMID: 34921197 PMCID: PMC8683507 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-03575-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2021] [Accepted: 12/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
To study the behavior of Drosophila, it is often necessary to restrain and mount individual flies. This requires removal from food, additional handling, anesthesia, and physical restraint. We find a strong positive correlation between the length of time flies are mounted and their subsequent reflexive feeding response, where one hour of mounting is the approximate motivational equivalent to ten hours of fasting. In an attempt to explain this correlation, we rule out anesthesia side-effects, handling, additional fasting, and desiccation. We use respirometric and metabolic techniques coupled with behavioral video scoring to assess energy expenditure in mounted and free flies. We isolate a specific behavior capable of exerting large amounts of energy in mounted flies and identify it as an attempt to escape from restraint. We present a model where physical restraint leads to elevated activity and subsequent faster nutrient storage depletion among mounted flies. This ultimately further accelerates starvation and thus increases reflexive feeding response. In addition, we show that the consequences of the physical restraint profoundly alter aerobic activity, energy depletion, taste, and feeding behavior, and suggest that careful consideration is given to the time-sensitive nature of these highly significant effects when conducting behavioral, physiological or imaging experiments that require immobilization.
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19
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Hulse BK, Haberkern H, Franconville R, Turner-Evans D, Takemura SY, Wolff T, Noorman M, Dreher M, Dan C, Parekh R, Hermundstad AM, Rubin GM, Jayaraman V. A connectome of the Drosophila central complex reveals network motifs suitable for flexible navigation and context-dependent action selection. eLife 2021; 10:e66039. [PMID: 34696823 PMCID: PMC9477501 DOI: 10.7554/elife.66039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 122] [Impact Index Per Article: 40.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2020] [Accepted: 09/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Flexible behaviors over long timescales are thought to engage recurrent neural networks in deep brain regions, which are experimentally challenging to study. In insects, recurrent circuit dynamics in a brain region called the central complex (CX) enable directed locomotion, sleep, and context- and experience-dependent spatial navigation. We describe the first complete electron microscopy-based connectome of the Drosophila CX, including all its neurons and circuits at synaptic resolution. We identified new CX neuron types, novel sensory and motor pathways, and network motifs that likely enable the CX to extract the fly's head direction, maintain it with attractor dynamics, and combine it with other sensorimotor information to perform vector-based navigational computations. We also identified numerous pathways that may facilitate the selection of CX-driven behavioral patterns by context and internal state. The CX connectome provides a comprehensive blueprint necessary for a detailed understanding of network dynamics underlying sleep, flexible navigation, and state-dependent action selection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brad K Hulse
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteAshburnUnited States
| | - Hannah Haberkern
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteAshburnUnited States
| | - Romain Franconville
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteAshburnUnited States
| | - Daniel Turner-Evans
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteAshburnUnited States
| | - Shin-ya Takemura
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteAshburnUnited States
| | - Tanya Wolff
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteAshburnUnited States
| | - Marcella Noorman
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteAshburnUnited States
| | - Marisa Dreher
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteAshburnUnited States
| | - Chuntao Dan
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteAshburnUnited States
| | - Ruchi Parekh
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteAshburnUnited States
| | - Ann M Hermundstad
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteAshburnUnited States
| | - Gerald M Rubin
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteAshburnUnited States
| | - Vivek Jayaraman
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteAshburnUnited States
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20
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Plasticity between visual input pathways and the head direction system. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2021; 71:60-68. [PMID: 34619578 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2021.08.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2021] [Accepted: 08/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Animals can maintain a stable sense of direction even when they navigate in novel environments, but how the animal's brain interprets and encodes unfamiliar sensory information in its navigation system to maintain a stable sense of direction is a mystery. Recent studies have suggested that distinct brain structures of mammals and insects have evolved to solve this common problem with strategies that share computational principles; specifically, a network structure called a ring attractor maintains the sense of direction. Initially, in a novel environment, the animal's sense of direction relies on self-motion cues. Over time, the mapping from visual inputs to head direction cells, responsible for the sense of direction, is established via experience-dependent plasticity. Yet the mechanisms that facilitate acquiring a world-centered sense of direction, how many environments can be stored in memory, and what visual features are selected, all remain unknown. Thanks to recent advances in large scale physiological recording, genetic tools, and theory, these mechanisms may soon be revealed.
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21
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Sareen PF, McCurdy LY, Nitabach MN. A neuronal ensemble encoding adaptive choice during sensory conflict in Drosophila. Nat Commun 2021; 12:4131. [PMID: 34226544 PMCID: PMC8257655 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-24423-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2020] [Accepted: 06/18/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Feeding decisions are fundamental to survival, and decision making is often disrupted in disease. Here, we show that neural activity in a small population of neurons projecting to the fan-shaped body higher-order central brain region of Drosophila represents food choice during sensory conflict. We found that food deprived flies made tradeoffs between appetitive and aversive values of food. We identified an upstream neuropeptidergic and dopaminergic network that relays internal state and other decision-relevant information to a specific subset of fan-shaped body neurons. These neurons were strongly inhibited by the taste of the rejected food choice, suggesting that they encode behavioral food choice. Our findings reveal that fan-shaped body taste responses to food choices are determined not only by taste quality, but also by previous experience (including choice outcome) and hunger state, which are integrated in the fan-shaped body to encode the decision before relay to downstream motor circuits for behavioral implementation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Preeti F Sareen
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Li Yan McCurdy
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Michael N Nitabach
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
- Department of Genetics, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
- Department of Neuroscience, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
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22
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Statistical analysis and optimality of neural systems. Neuron 2021; 109:1227-1241.e5. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2021.01.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2020] [Revised: 09/10/2020] [Accepted: 01/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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23
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Hardcastle BJ, Omoto JJ, Kandimalla P, Nguyen BCM, Keleş MF, Boyd NK, Hartenstein V, Frye MA. A visual pathway for skylight polarization processing in Drosophila. eLife 2021; 10:e63225. [PMID: 33755020 PMCID: PMC8051946 DOI: 10.7554/elife.63225] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2020] [Accepted: 03/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Many insects use patterns of polarized light in the sky to orient and navigate. Here, we functionally characterize neural circuitry in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, that conveys polarized light signals from the eye to the central complex, a brain region essential for the fly's sense of direction. Neurons tuned to the angle of polarization of ultraviolet light are found throughout the anterior visual pathway, connecting the optic lobes with the central complex via the anterior optic tubercle and bulb, in a homologous organization to the 'sky compass' pathways described in other insects. We detail how a consistent, map-like organization of neural tunings in the peripheral visual system is transformed into a reduced representation suited to flexible processing in the central brain. This study identifies computational motifs of the transformation, enabling mechanistic comparisons of multisensory integration and central processing for navigation in the brains of insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ben J Hardcastle
- Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of California, Los AngelesLos AngelesUnited States
| | - Jaison J Omoto
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los AngelesLos AngelesUnited States
| | - Pratyush Kandimalla
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los AngelesLos AngelesUnited States
| | - Bao-Chau M Nguyen
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los AngelesLos AngelesUnited States
| | - Mehmet F Keleş
- Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of California, Los AngelesLos AngelesUnited States
| | - Natalie K Boyd
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los AngelesLos AngelesUnited States
| | - Volker Hartenstein
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los AngelesLos AngelesUnited States
| | - Mark A Frye
- Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of California, Los AngelesLos AngelesUnited States
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24
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Li ES, Saha MS. Optimizing Calcium Detection Methods in Animal Systems: A Sandbox for Synthetic Biology. Biomolecules 2021; 11:343. [PMID: 33668387 PMCID: PMC7996158 DOI: 10.3390/biom11030343] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2021] [Revised: 02/19/2021] [Accepted: 02/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Since the 1970s, the emergence and expansion of novel methods for calcium ion (Ca2+) detection have found diverse applications in vitro and in vivo across a series of model animal systems. Matched with advances in fluorescence imaging techniques, the improvements in the functional range and stability of various calcium indicators have significantly enhanced more accurate study of intracellular Ca2+ dynamics and its effects on cell signaling, growth, differentiation, and regulation. Nonetheless, the current limitations broadly presented by organic calcium dyes, genetically encoded calcium indicators, and calcium-responsive nanoparticles suggest a potential path toward more rapid optimization by taking advantage of a synthetic biology approach. This engineering-oriented discipline applies principles of modularity and standardization to redesign and interrogate endogenous biological systems. This review will elucidate how novel synthetic biology technologies constructed for eukaryotic systems can offer a promising toolkit for interfacing with calcium signaling and overcoming barriers in order to accelerate the process of Ca2+ detection optimization.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Margaret S. Saha
- Department of Biology, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA 23185, USA;
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25
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Fernandes AM, Mearns DS, Donovan JC, Larsch J, Helmbrecht TO, Kölsch Y, Laurell E, Kawakami K, Dal Maschio M, Baier H. Neural circuitry for stimulus selection in the zebrafish visual system. Neuron 2020; 109:805-822.e6. [PMID: 33357384 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2020.12.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2020] [Revised: 11/09/2020] [Accepted: 12/02/2020] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
When navigating the environment, animals need to prioritize responses to the most relevant stimuli. Although a theoretical framework for selective visual attention exists, its circuit implementation has remained obscure. Here we investigated how larval zebrafish select between simultaneously presented visual stimuli. We found that a mix of winner-take-all (WTA) and averaging strategies best simulates behavioral responses. We identified two circuits whose activity patterns predict the relative saliencies of competing visual objects. Stimuli presented to only one eye are selected by WTA computation in the inner retina. Binocularly presented stimuli, on the other hand, are processed by reciprocal, bilateral connections between the nucleus isthmi (NI) and the tectum. This interhemispheric computation leads to WTA or averaging responses. Optogenetic stimulation and laser ablation of NI neurons disrupt stimulus selection and behavioral action selection. Thus, depending on the relative locations of competing stimuli, a combination of retinotectal and isthmotectal circuits enables selective visual attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- António M Fernandes
- Department Genes-Circuits-Behavior, Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| | - Duncan S Mearns
- Department Genes-Circuits-Behavior, Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, 82152 Martinsried, Germany; Gradute School of Systemic Neurosciences, LMU BioCenter, Grosshaderner Strasse 2, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| | - Joseph C Donovan
- Department Genes-Circuits-Behavior, Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| | - Johannes Larsch
- Department Genes-Circuits-Behavior, Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| | - Thomas O Helmbrecht
- Department Genes-Circuits-Behavior, Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, 82152 Martinsried, Germany; Gradute School of Systemic Neurosciences, LMU BioCenter, Grosshaderner Strasse 2, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| | - Yvonne Kölsch
- Department Genes-Circuits-Behavior, Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, 82152 Martinsried, Germany; Gradute School of Systemic Neurosciences, LMU BioCenter, Grosshaderner Strasse 2, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| | - Eva Laurell
- Department Genes-Circuits-Behavior, Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| | - Koichi Kawakami
- Laboratory of Molecular and Developmental Biology, National Institute of Genetics, Department of Genetics, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Mishima, Shizuoka 411-8540, Japan
| | - Marco Dal Maschio
- Department Genes-Circuits-Behavior, Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| | - Herwig Baier
- Department Genes-Circuits-Behavior, Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, 82152 Martinsried, Germany.
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26
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Carter O, van Swinderen B, Leopold DA, Collin S, Maier A. Perceptual rivalry across animal species. J Comp Neurol 2020; 528:3123-3133. [PMID: 32361986 PMCID: PMC7541519 DOI: 10.1002/cne.24939] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2020] [Revised: 04/18/2020] [Accepted: 04/20/2020] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
This review in memoriam of Jack Pettigrew provides an overview of past and current research into the phenomenon of multistable perception across multiple animal species. Multistable perception is characterized by two or more perceptual interpretations spontaneously alternating, or rivaling, when animals are exposed to stimuli with inherent sensory ambiguity. There is a wide array of ambiguous stimuli across sensory modalities, ranging from the configural changes observed in simple line drawings, such as the famous Necker cube, to the alternating perception of entire visual scenes that can be instigated by interocular conflict. The latter phenomenon, called binocular rivalry, in particular caught the attention of the late Jack Pettigrew, who combined his interest in the neuronal basis of perception with a unique comparative biological approach that considered ambiguous sensation as a fundamental problem of sensory systems that has shaped the brain throughout evolution. Here, we examine the research findings on visual perceptual alternation and suppression in a wide variety of species including insects, fish, reptiles, and primates. We highlight several interesting commonalities across species and behavioral indicators of perceptual alternation. In addition, we show how the comparative approach provides new avenues for understanding how the brain suppresses opposing sensory signals and generates alternations in perceptual dominance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olivia Carter
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, AUS
| | | | | | - Shaun Collin
- School of Life Sciences, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, AUS
| | - Alex Maier
- Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
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27
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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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28
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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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29
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Turner-Evans DB, Jensen KT, Ali S, Paterson T, Sheridan A, Ray RP, Wolff T, Lauritzen JS, Rubin GM, Bock DD, Jayaraman V. The Neuroanatomical Ultrastructure and Function of a Biological Ring Attractor. Neuron 2020; 108:145-163.e10. [PMID: 32916090 PMCID: PMC8356802 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2020.08.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2020] [Revised: 05/20/2020] [Accepted: 08/05/2020] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Neural representations of head direction (HD) have been discovered in many species. Theoretical work has proposed that the dynamics associated with these representations are generated, maintained, and updated by recurrent network structures called ring attractors. We evaluated this theorized structure-function relationship by performing electron-microscopy-based circuit reconstruction and RNA profiling of identified cell types in the HD system of Drosophila melanogaster. We identified motifs that have been hypothesized to maintain the HD representation in darkness, update it when the animal turns, and tether it to visual cues. Functional studies provided support for the proposed roles of individual excitatory or inhibitory circuit elements in shaping activity. We also discovered recurrent connections between neuronal arbors with mixed pre- and postsynaptic specializations. Our results confirm that the Drosophila HD network contains the core components of a ring attractor while also revealing unpredicted structural features that might enhance the network's computational power.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Kristopher T Jensen
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA; Computational and Biological Learning Lab, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Saba Ali
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA
| | - Tyler Paterson
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA
| | - Arlo Sheridan
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA
| | - Robert P Ray
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA
| | - Tanya Wolff
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA
| | - J Scott Lauritzen
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA
| | - Gerald M Rubin
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA
| | - Davi D Bock
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA; Department of Neurological Sciences, Larner College of Medicine, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
| | - Vivek Jayaraman
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA.
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30
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Timaeus L, Geid L, Sancer G, Wernet MF, Hummel T. Parallel Visual Pathways with Topographic versus Nontopographic Organization Connect the Drosophila Eyes to the Central Brain. iScience 2020; 23:101590. [PMID: 33205011 PMCID: PMC7648135 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2020.101590] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2020] [Revised: 06/21/2020] [Accepted: 09/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
One hallmark of the visual system is a strict retinotopic organization from the periphery toward the central brain, where functional imaging in Drosophila revealed a spatially accurate representation of visual cues in the central complex. This raised the question how, on a circuit level, the topographic features are implemented, as the majority of visual neurons enter the central brain converge in optic glomeruli. We discovered a spatial segregation of topographic versus nontopographic projections of distinct classes of medullo-tubercular (MeTu) neurons into a specific visual glomerulus, the anterior optic tubercle (AOTU). These parallel channels synapse onto different tubercular-bulbar (TuBu) neurons, which in turn relay visual information onto specific central complex ring neurons in the bulb neuropil. Hence, our results provide the circuit basis for spatially accurate representation of visual information and highlight the AOTU's role as a prominent relay station for spatial information from the retina to the central brain. A Drosophila visual circuit conveys input from the periphery to the central brain Several synaptic pathways form parallel channels using the anterior optic tubercle Some pathways maintain topographic relationships across several synaptic steps Different target neurons in the central brain are identified
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Affiliation(s)
- Lorin Timaeus
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Laura Geid
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.,Center for Brain Research, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Gizem Sancer
- Department of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Mathias F Wernet
- Department of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Thomas Hummel
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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31
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Okubo TS, Patella P, D'Alessandro I, Wilson RI. A Neural Network for Wind-Guided Compass Navigation. Neuron 2020; 107:924-940.e18. [PMID: 32681825 PMCID: PMC7507644 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2020.06.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2019] [Revised: 05/13/2020] [Accepted: 06/22/2020] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Spatial maps in the brain are most accurate when they are linked to external sensory cues. Here, we show that the compass in the Drosophila brain is linked to the direction of the wind. Shifting the wind rightward rotates the compass as if the fly were turning leftward, and vice versa. We describe the mechanisms of several computations that integrate wind information into the compass. First, an intensity-invariant representation of wind direction is computed by comparing left-right mechanosensory signals. Then, signals are reformatted to reduce the coding biases inherent in peripheral mechanics, and wind cues are brought into the same circular coordinate system that represents visual cues and self-motion signals. Because the compass incorporates both mechanosensory and visual cues, it should enable navigation under conditions where no single cue is consistently reliable. These results show how local sensory signals can be transformed into a global, multimodal, abstract representation of space.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tatsuo S Okubo
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Paola Patella
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Rachel I Wilson
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
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32
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Held M, Le K, Pegel U, Dersch F, Beetz MJ, Pfeiffer K, Homberg U. Anatomical and ultrastructural analysis of the posterior optic tubercle in the locust Schistocerca gregaria. ARTHROPOD STRUCTURE & DEVELOPMENT 2020; 58:100971. [PMID: 32755758 DOI: 10.1016/j.asd.2020.100971] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2020] [Revised: 06/22/2020] [Accepted: 07/03/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Locusts, like other insects, partly rely on a sun compass mechanism for spatial orientation during seasonal migrations. To serve as a useful guiding cue throughout the day, however, the sun's apparent movement has to be accounted for. In locusts, a neural pathway from the accessory medulla, the circadian pacemaker, via the posterior optic tubercle, to the protocerebral bridge, part of the internal sky compass, has been proposed to mediate the required time compensation. Toward a better understanding of neural connectivities within the posterior optic tubercle, we investigated this neuropil using light and electron microscopy. Based on vesicle content, four types of synaptic profile were distinguished within the posterior optic tubercle. Immunogold labeling showed that pigment-dispersing hormone immunoreactive neurons from the accessory medulla, containing large dense-core vesicles, have presynaptic terminals in the posterior optic tubercle. Ultrastructural examination of two Neurobiotin-injected tangential neurons of the protocerebral bridge revealed that these neurons are postsynaptic in the posterior optic tubercle. Our data, therefore, support a role of the posterior optic tubercles in mediating circadian input to the insect sky compass.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martina Held
- Animal Physiology, Department of Biology & Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany.
| | - Kim Le
- Animal Physiology, Department of Biology & Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany
| | - Uta Pegel
- Animal Physiology, Department of Biology & Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany
| | - Florian Dersch
- Animal Physiology, Department of Biology & Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany
| | - M Jerome Beetz
- Animal Physiology, Department of Biology & Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany
| | - Keram Pfeiffer
- Animal Physiology, Department of Biology & Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany
| | - Uwe Homberg
- Animal Physiology, Department of Biology & Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany
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33
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Ertekin D, Kirszenblat L, Faville R, van Swinderen B. Down-regulation of a cytokine secreted from peripheral fat bodies improves visual attention while reducing sleep in Drosophila. PLoS Biol 2020; 18:e3000548. [PMID: 32745077 PMCID: PMC7426065 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000548] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2019] [Revised: 08/13/2020] [Accepted: 07/13/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Sleep is vital for survival. Yet under environmentally challenging conditions, such as starvation, animals suppress their need for sleep. Interestingly, starvation-induced sleep loss does not evoke a subsequent sleep rebound. Little is known about how starvation-induced sleep deprivation differs from other types of sleep loss, or why some sleep functions become dispensable during starvation. Here, we demonstrate that down-regulation of the secreted cytokine unpaired 2 (upd2) in Drosophila flies may mimic a starved-like state. We used a genetic knockdown strategy to investigate the consequences of upd2 on visual attention and sleep in otherwise well-fed flies, thereby sidestepping the negative side effects of undernourishment. We find that knockdown of upd2 in the fat body (FB) is sufficient to suppress sleep and promote feeding-related behaviors while also improving selective visual attention. Furthermore, we show that this peripheral signal is integrated in the fly brain via insulin-expressing cells. Together, these findings identify a role for peripheral tissue-to-brain interactions in the simultaneous regulation of sleep quality and attention, to potentially promote adaptive behaviors necessary for survival in hungry animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deniz Ertekin
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Leonie Kirszenblat
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Richard Faville
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Bruno van Swinderen
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
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Oltmanns S, Abben FS, Ender A, Aimon S, Kovacs R, Sigrist SJ, Storace DA, Geiger JRP, Raccuglia D. NOSA, an Analytical Toolbox for Multicellular Optical Electrophysiology. Front Neurosci 2020; 14:712. [PMID: 32765213 PMCID: PMC7381214 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2020.00712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2020] [Accepted: 06/12/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding how neural networks generate activity patterns and communicate with each other requires monitoring the electrical activity from many neurons simultaneously. Perfectly suited tools for addressing this challenge are genetically encoded voltage indicators (GEVIs) because they can be targeted to specific cell types and optically report the electrical activity of individual, or populations of neurons. However, analyzing and interpreting the data from voltage imaging experiments is challenging because high recording speeds and properties of current GEVIs yield only low signal-to-noise ratios, making it necessary to apply specific analytical tools. Here, we present NOSA (Neuro-Optical Signal Analysis), a novel open source software designed for analyzing voltage imaging data and identifying temporal interactions between electrical activity patterns of different origin. In this work, we explain the challenges that arise during voltage imaging experiments and provide hands-on analytical solutions. We demonstrate how NOSA's baseline fitting, filtering algorithms and movement correction can compensate for shifts in baseline fluorescence and extract electrical patterns from low signal-to-noise recordings. NOSA allows to efficiently identify oscillatory frequencies in electrical patterns, quantify neuronal response parameters and moreover provides an option for analyzing simultaneously recorded optical and electrical data derived from patch-clamp or other electrode-based recordings. To identify temporal relations between electrical activity patterns we implemented different options to perform cross correlation analysis, demonstrating their utility during voltage imaging in Drosophila and mice. All features combined, NOSA will facilitate the first steps into using GEVIs and help to realize their full potential for revealing cell-type specific connectivity and functional interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Oltmanns
- Institute of Neurophysiology, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany
| | - Frauke Sophie Abben
- Institute of Neurophysiology, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany
| | - Anatoli Ender
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Sophie Aimon
- School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany
| | - Richard Kovacs
- Institute of Neurophysiology, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany
| | - Stephan J. Sigrist
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Institute of Biology/Genetics, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- NeuroCure, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany
| | - Douglas A. Storace
- Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, United States
| | - Jörg R. P. Geiger
- Institute of Neurophysiology, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany
| | - Davide Raccuglia
- Institute of Neurophysiology, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany
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Mohr MA, Bushey D, Aggarwal A, Marvin JS, Kim JJ, Marquez EJ, Liang Y, Patel R, Macklin JJ, Lee CY, Tsang A, Tsegaye G, Ahrens AM, Chen JL, Kim DS, Wong AM, Looger LL, Schreiter ER, Podgorski K. jYCaMP: an optimized calcium indicator for two-photon imaging at fiber laser wavelengths. Nat Methods 2020; 17:694-697. [PMID: 32451475 PMCID: PMC7335340 DOI: 10.1038/s41592-020-0835-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2019] [Accepted: 04/14/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Femtosecond lasers at fixed wavelengths above 1,000 nm are powerful, stable and inexpensive, making them promising sources for two-photon microscopy. Biosensors optimized for these wavelengths are needed for both next-generation microscopes and affordable turn-key systems. Here we report jYCaMP1, a yellow variant of the calcium indicator jGCaMP7 that outperforms its parent in mice and flies at excitation wavelengths above 1,000 nm and enables improved two-color calcium imaging with red fluorescent protein-based indicators.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuel Alexander Mohr
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zurich, Basel, Switzerland
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Daniel Bushey
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | - Abhi Aggarwal
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
- Department of Chemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Jonathan S Marvin
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | - Jeong Jun Kim
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | - Emiliano Jimenez Marquez
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
- Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico, Mexico
| | - Yajie Liang
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
- GENIE Project, Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | - Ronak Patel
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | - John J Macklin
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | - Chi-Yu Lee
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | - Arthur Tsang
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
- GENIE Project, Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | - Getahun Tsegaye
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
- GENIE Project, Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | | | - Jerry L Chen
- Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Douglas S Kim
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
- GENIE Project, Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | - Allan M Wong
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
- GENIE Project, Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | - Loren L Looger
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
- GENIE Project, Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | - Eric R Schreiter
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
- GENIE Project, Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | - Kaspar Podgorski
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA.
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36
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Habenstein J, Amini E, Grübel K, el Jundi B, Rössler W. The brain of
Cataglyphis
ants: Neuronal organization and visual projections. J Comp Neurol 2020; 528:3479-3506. [DOI: 10.1002/cne.24934] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2020] [Revised: 04/15/2020] [Accepted: 04/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jens Habenstein
- Biocenter, Behavioral Physiology and Sociobiology (Zoology II) University of Würzburg Würzburg Germany
| | - Emad Amini
- Biocenter, Neurobiology and Genetics University of Würzburg Würzburg Germany
| | - Kornelia Grübel
- Biocenter, Behavioral Physiology and Sociobiology (Zoology II) University of Würzburg Würzburg Germany
| | - Basil el Jundi
- Biocenter, Behavioral Physiology and Sociobiology (Zoology II) University of Würzburg Würzburg Germany
| | - Wolfgang Rössler
- Biocenter, Behavioral Physiology and Sociobiology (Zoology II) University of Würzburg Würzburg Germany
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37
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Shiozaki HM, Ohta K, Kazama H. A Multi-regional Network Encoding Heading and Steering Maneuvers in Drosophila. Neuron 2020; 106:126-141.e5. [PMID: 32023429 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2020.01.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2019] [Revised: 12/11/2019] [Accepted: 01/10/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
An internal sense of heading direction is computed from various cues, including steering maneuvers of the animal. Although neurons encoding heading and steering have been found in multiple brain regions, it is unclear whether and how they are organized into neural circuits. Here we show that, in flying Drosophila, heading and turning behaviors are encoded by population dynamics of specific cell types connecting the subregions of the central complex (CX), a brain structure implicated in navigation. Columnar neurons in the fan-shaped body (FB) of the CX exhibit circular dynamics that multiplex information about turning behavior and heading. These dynamics are coordinated with those in the ellipsoid body, another CX subregion containing a heading representation, although only FB neurons flip turn preference depending on the visual environment. Thus, the navigational system spans multiple subregions of the CX, where specific cell types show coordinated but distinct context-dependent dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hiroshi M Shiozaki
- RIKEN Center for Brain Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan.
| | - Kazumi Ohta
- RIKEN Center for Brain Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
| | - Hokto Kazama
- RIKEN Center for Brain Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan; RIKEN CBS-KAO Collaboration Center, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan; Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 3-8-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8902, Japan.
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38
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Lamaze A, Stanewsky R. DN1p or the "Fluffy" Cerberus of Clock Outputs. Front Physiol 2020; 10:1540. [PMID: 31969832 PMCID: PMC6960142 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2019.01540] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2019] [Accepted: 12/05/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Drosophila melanogaster is a powerful genetic model to study the circadian clock. Recently, three drosophilists received the Nobel Prize for their intensive past and current work on the molecular clockwork (Nobel Prize 2017). The Drosophila brain clock is composed of about 150 clock neurons distributed along the lateral and dorsal regions of the protocerebrum. These clock neurons control the timing of locomotor behaviors. In standard light-dark (LD) conditions (12-12 h and constant 25°C), flies present a bi-modal locomotor activity pattern controlled by the clock. Flies increase their movement just before the light-transitions, and these behaviors are therefore defined as anticipatory. Two neuronal oscillators control the morning and evening anticipation. Knowing that the molecular clock cycles in phase in all clock neurons in the brain in LD, how can we explain the presence of two behavioral activity peaks separated by 12 h? According to one model, the molecular clock cycles in phase in all clock neurons, but the neuronal activity cycles with a distinct phase in the morning and evening oscillators. An alternative model takes the environmental condition into consideration. One group of clock neurons, the dorso-posterior clock neurons DN1p, drive two peaks of locomotor activity in LD even though their neuronal activity cycles with the same phase (late night/early morning). Interestingly, the locomotor outputs they control differ in their sensitivity to light and temperature. Hence, they must drive outputs to different neuropil regions in the brain, which also receive different inputs. Since 2010 and the presentation of the first specific DN1p manipulations, many studies have been performed to understand the role of this group of neurons in controlling locomotor behaviors. Hence, we review what we know about this heterogeneous group of clock neurons and discuss the second model to explain how clock neurons that oscillate with the same phase can drive behaviors at different times of the day.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angélique Lamaze
- Institut für Neuro und Verhaltensbiologie, Westfälische Wilhelms University, Münster, Germany
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39
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Abstract
Many animals use an internal sense of direction to guide their movements through the world. Neurons selective to head direction are thought to support this directional sense and have been found in a diverse range of species, from insects to primates, highlighting their evolutionary importance. Across species, most head-direction networks share four key properties: a unique representation of direction at all times, persistent activity in the absence of movement, integration of angular velocity to update the representation, and the use of directional cues to correct drift. The dynamics of theorized network structures called ring attractors elegantly account for these properties, but their relationship to brain circuits is unclear. Here, we review experiments in rodents and flies that offer insights into potential neural implementations of ring attractor networks. We suggest that a theory-guided search across model systems for biological mechanisms that enable such dynamics would uncover general principles underlying head-direction circuit function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brad K Hulse
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, Virginia 20147, USA; ,
| | - Vivek Jayaraman
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, Virginia 20147, USA; ,
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40
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Currier TA, Nagel KI. Multisensory control of navigation in the fruit fly. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2019; 64:10-16. [PMID: 31841944 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2019.11.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2019] [Revised: 11/23/2019] [Accepted: 11/25/2019] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
Spatial navigation is influenced by cues from nearly every sensory modality and thus provides an excellent model for understanding how different sensory streams are integrated to drive behavior. Here we review recent work on multisensory control of navigation in the model organism Drosophila melanogaster, which allows for detailed circuit dissection. We identify four modes of integration that have been described in the literature-suppression, gating, summation, and association-and describe regions of the larval and adult brain that have been implicated in sensory integration. Finally we discuss what circuit architectures might support these different forms of integration. We argue that Drosophila is an excellent model to discover these circuit and biophysical motifs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy A Currier
- Neuroscience Institute, New York University Medical Center, 435 E 30th St., New York, NY 10016, USA; Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003, USA
| | - Katherine I Nagel
- Neuroscience Institute, New York University Medical Center, 435 E 30th St., New York, NY 10016, USA; Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003, USA.
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41
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Fisher YE, Lu J, D'Alessandro I, Wilson RI. Sensorimotor experience remaps visual input to a heading-direction network. Nature 2019; 576:121-125. [PMID: 31748749 PMCID: PMC7753972 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1772-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2018] [Accepted: 10/24/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
In the Drosophila brain, 'compass' neurons track the orientation of the body and head (the fly's heading) during navigation 1,2. In the absence of visual cues, the compass neuron network estimates heading by integrating self-movement signals over time3,4. When a visual cue is present, the estimate of the network is more accurate1,3. Visual inputs to compass neurons are thought to originate from inhibitory neurons called R neurons (also known as ring neurons); the receptive fields of R neurons tile visual space5. The axon of each R neuron overlaps with the dendrites of every compass neuron6, raising the question of how visual cues are integrated into the compass. Here, using in vivo whole-cell recordings, we show that a visual cue can evoke synaptic inhibition in compass neurons and that R neurons mediate this inhibition. Each compass neuron is inhibited only by specific visual cue positions, indicating that many potential connections from R neurons onto compass neurons are actually weak or silent. We also show that the pattern of visually evoked inhibition can reorganize over minutes as the fly explores an altered virtual-reality environment. Using ensemble calcium imaging, we demonstrate that this reorganization causes persistent changes in the compass coordinate frame. Taken together, our data suggest a model in which correlated pre- and postsynaptic activity triggers associative long-term synaptic depression of visually evoked inhibition in compass neurons. Our findings provide evidence for the theoretical proposal that associative plasticity of sensory inputs, when combined with attractor dynamics, can reconcile self-movement information with changing external cues to generate a coherent sense of direction7-12.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yvette E Fisher
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jenny Lu
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Rachel I Wilson
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
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42
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Kim SS, Hermundstad AM, Romani S, Abbott LF, Jayaraman V. Generation of stable heading representations in diverse visual scenes. Nature 2019; 576:126-131. [PMID: 31748750 PMCID: PMC8115876 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1767-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 79] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2018] [Accepted: 10/07/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Many animals rely on an internal heading representation when navigating in varied environments1-10. How this representation is linked to the sensory cues that define different surroundings is unclear. In the fly brain, heading is represented by 'compass' neurons that innervate a ring-shaped structure known as the ellipsoid body3,11,12. Each compass neuron receives inputs from 'ring' neurons that are selective for particular visual features13-16; this combination provides an ideal substrate for the extraction of directional information from a visual scene. Here we combine two-photon calcium imaging and optogenetics in tethered flying flies with circuit modelling, and show how the correlated activity of compass and visual neurons drives plasticity17-22, which flexibly transforms two-dimensional visual cues into a stable heading representation. We also describe how this plasticity enables the fly to convert a partial heading representation, established from orienting within part of a novel setting, into a complete heading representation. Our results provide mechanistic insight into the memory-related computations that are essential for flexible navigation in varied surroundings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sung Soo Kim
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA.
- Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA.
- Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA.
| | - Ann M Hermundstad
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | - Sandro Romani
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | - L F Abbott
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
- Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Vivek Jayaraman
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA.
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Heading choices of flying Drosophila under changing angles of polarized light. Sci Rep 2019; 9:16773. [PMID: 31727972 PMCID: PMC6856357 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-53330-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2019] [Accepted: 10/30/2019] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Many navigating insects include the celestial polarization pattern as an additional visual cue to orient their travels. Spontaneous orientation responses of both walking and flying fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) to linearly polarized light have previously been demonstrated. Using newly designed modular flight arenas consisting entirely of off-the-shelf parts and 3D-printed components we present individual flying flies with a slow and continuous rotational change in the incident angle of linear polarization. Under such open-loop conditions, single flies choose arbitrary headings with respect to the angle of polarized light and show a clear tendency to maintain those chosen headings for several minutes, thereby adjusting their course to the slow rotation of the incident stimulus. Importantly, flies show the tendency to maintain a chosen heading even when two individual test periods under a linearly polarized stimulus are interrupted by an epoch of unpolarized light lasting several minutes. Finally, we show that these behavioral responses are wavelength-specific, existing under polarized UV stimulus while being absent under polarized green light. Taken together, these findings provide further evidence supporting Drosophila’s abilities to use celestial cues for visually guided navigation and course correction.
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44
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Huang C, Tai CY, Yang KP, Chang WK, Hsu KJ, Hsiao CC, Wu SC, Lin YY, Chiang AS, Chu SW. All-Optical Volumetric Physiology for Connectomics in Dense Neuronal Structures. iScience 2019; 22:133-146. [PMID: 31765994 PMCID: PMC6883334 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2019.11.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2019] [Revised: 09/19/2019] [Accepted: 11/04/2019] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
All-optical physiology (AOP) manipulates and reports neuronal activities with light, allowing for interrogation of neuronal functional connections with high spatiotemporal resolution. However, contemporary high-speed AOP platforms are limited to single-depth or discrete multi-plane recordings that are not suitable for studying functional connections among densely packed small neurons, such as neurons in Drosophila brains. Here, we constructed a 3D AOP platform by incorporating single-photon point stimulation and two-photon high-speed volumetric recordings with a tunable acoustic gradient-index (TAG) lens. We demonstrated the platform effectiveness by studying the anterior visual pathway (AVP) of Drosophila. We achieved functional observation of spatiotemporal coding and the strengths of calcium-sensitive connections between anterior optic tubercle (AOTU) sub-compartments and >70 tightly assembled 2-μm bulb (BU) microglomeruli in 3D coordinates with a single trial. Our work aids the establishment of in vivo 3D functional connectomes in neuron-dense brain areas. All-optical volumetric physiology = precise stimulation + fast volumetric recording Precise single-photon point stimulation among genetically defined neurons 3D two-photon imaging by an acoustic gradient-index lens for dense neural structures Observation of 3D functional connectivity in Drosophila anterior visual pathway
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiao Huang
- Department of Physics, National Taiwan University, 1, Sec 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10617, Taiwan
| | - Chu-Yi Tai
- Institute of Biotechnology, National Tsing Hua University, 101, Sec 2, Guangfu Road, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan
| | - Kai-Ping Yang
- Department of Physics, National Taiwan University, 1, Sec 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10617, Taiwan
| | - Wei-Kun Chang
- Brain Research Center, National Tsing Hua University, 101, Sec 2, Guangfu Road, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan
| | - Kuo-Jen Hsu
- Department of Physics, National Taiwan University, 1, Sec 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10617, Taiwan; Brain Research Center, National Tsing Hua University, 101, Sec 2, Guangfu Road, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan
| | - Ching-Chun Hsiao
- Department of Engineering and System Science, National Tsing Hua University, 101, Sec 2, Guangfu Road, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan
| | - Shun-Chi Wu
- Department of Engineering and System Science, National Tsing Hua University, 101, Sec 2, Guangfu Road, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan
| | - Yen-Yin Lin
- Brain Research Center, National Tsing Hua University, 101, Sec 2, Guangfu Road, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan.
| | - Ann-Shyn Chiang
- Institute of Biotechnology, National Tsing Hua University, 101, Sec 2, Guangfu Road, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan; Brain Research Center, National Tsing Hua University, 101, Sec 2, Guangfu Road, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan; Institute of Systems Neuroscience, National Tsing Hua University, 101, Sec 2, Guangfu Road, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan; Department of Biomedical Science and Environmental Biology, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80780, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Clinical Medical Science, China Medical University, Taichung 40402, Taiwan; Institute of Molecular and Genomic Medicine, National Health Research Institutes, Zhunan, Miaoli 35053, Taiwan; Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind, University of California, San Diego, CA 92161, USA.
| | - Shi-Wei Chu
- Department of Physics, National Taiwan University, 1, Sec 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10617, Taiwan; Molecular Imaging Center, National Taiwan University, 1, Sec 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10617, Taiwan.
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45
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Network-Specific Synchronization of Electrical Slow-Wave Oscillations Regulates Sleep Drive in Drosophila. Curr Biol 2019; 29:3611-3621.e3. [PMID: 31630955 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.08.070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2019] [Revised: 08/01/2019] [Accepted: 08/23/2019] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Slow-wave rhythms characteristic of deep sleep oscillate in the delta band (0.5-4 Hz) and can be found across various brain regions in vertebrates. Across phyla, however, an understanding of the mechanisms underlying oscillations and how these link to behavior remains limited. Here, we discover compound delta oscillations in the sleep-regulating R5 network of Drosophila. We find that the power of these slow-wave oscillations increases with sleep need and is subject to diurnal variation. Optical multi-unit voltage recordings reveal that single R5 neurons get synchronized by activating circadian input pathways. We show that this synchronization depends on NMDA receptor (NMDAR) coincidence detector function, and that an interplay of cholinergic and glutamatergic inputs regulates oscillatory frequency. Genetically targeting the coincidence detector function of NMDARs in R5, and thus the uncovered mechanism underlying synchronization, abolished network-specific compound slow-wave oscillations. It also disrupted sleep and facilitated light-induced wakening, establishing a role for slow-wave oscillations in regulating sleep and sensory gating. We therefore propose that the synchronization-based increase in oscillatory power likely represents an evolutionarily conserved, potentially "optimal," strategy for constructing sleep-regulating sensory gates.
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46
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Green J, Vijayan V, Mussells Pires P, Adachi A, Maimon G. A neural heading estimate is compared with an internal goal to guide oriented navigation. Nat Neurosci 2019; 22:1460-1468. [PMID: 31332373 PMCID: PMC7688015 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-019-0444-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2019] [Accepted: 06/04/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Goal-directed navigation is thought to rely on the activity of head-direction cells, but how this activity guides moment-to-moment action remains poorly understood. Here we characterize how heading neurons in the Drosophila central complex guide moment-to-moment actions. We establish an innate, heading-neuron dependent, tethered navigational behavior where walking flies maintain a straight trajectory along a specific angular bearing for hundreds of body lengths. While flies perform this task, we use chemogenetics to transiently rotate their neural heading estimate and observe that the flies slow down and turn in a direction that aims to return the heading estimate to the angle it occupied prior to stimulation. These results support a working model in which the fly brain quantitatively compares an internal estimate of current heading with an internal goal heading and uses the sign and magnitude of the difference to determine which way to turn, how hard to turn, and how fast to walk forward.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan Green
- Laboratory of Integrative Brain Function and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA.,Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Vikram Vijayan
- Laboratory of Integrative Brain Function and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Peter Mussells Pires
- Laboratory of Integrative Brain Function and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Atsuko Adachi
- Laboratory of Integrative Brain Function and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Gaby Maimon
- Laboratory of Integrative Brain Function and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA.
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47
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Mohamed AAM, Hansson BS, Sachse S. Third-Order Neurons in the Lateral Horn Enhance Bilateral Contrast of Odor Inputs Through Contralateral Inhibition in Drosophila. Front Physiol 2019; 10:851. [PMID: 31354516 PMCID: PMC6629933 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00851] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2019] [Accepted: 06/20/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The survival and reproduction of Drosophila melanogaster depends heavily on its ability to determine the location of an odor source and either to move toward or away from it. Despite the very small spatial separation between the two antennae and the redundancy in sensory neuron projection to both sides of the brain, Drosophila can resolve the concentration gradient by comparing the signal strength between the two antennae. When an odor stimulates the antennae asymmetrically, ipsilateral projection neurons from the first olfactory center are more strongly excited compared to the contralateral ones. However, it remains elusive how higher-order neurons process such asymmetric or lateralized odor inputs. Here, we monitored and analyzed for the first time the activity patterns of a small cluster of third-order neurons (so-called ventrolateral protocerebrum neurons) to asymmetric olfactory stimulation using two-photon calcium imaging. Our data demonstrate that lateralized odors evoke distinct activation of these neurons in the left and right brain hemisphere as a result of contralateral inhibition. Moreover, using laser transection experiments we show that this contralateral inhibition is mediated by presynaptic neurons most likely located in the lateral horn. Finally, we propose that this inhibitory interaction between higher-order neurons facilitates odor lateralization and plays a crucial role in olfactory navigation behavior of Drosophila, a theory that needs to be experimentally addressed in future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Silke Sachse
- Department of Evolutionary Neuroethology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany
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48
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Temporal Dynamics of Inhalation-Linked Activity across Defined Subpopulations of Mouse Olfactory Bulb Neurons Imaged In Vivo. eNeuro 2019; 6:ENEURO.0189-19.2019. [PMID: 31209151 PMCID: PMC6597857 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0189-19.2019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2019] [Accepted: 05/23/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
In mammalian olfaction, inhalation drives the temporal patterning of neural activity that underlies early olfactory processing. It remains poorly understood how the neural circuits that process incoming olfactory information are engaged in the context of inhalation-linked dynamics. Here, we used artificial inhalation and two-photon calcium imaging to compare the dynamics of activity evoked by odorant inhalation across major cell types of the mouse olfactory bulb (OB). We expressed GCaMP6f or jRGECO1a in mitral and tufted cell (MTC) subpopulations, olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs), and two major juxtaglomerular interneuron classes and imaged responses to a single inhalation of odorant. Activity in all cell types was strongly linked to inhalation, and all cell types showed some variance in the latency, rise times, and durations of their inhalation-linked response. Juxtaglomerular interneuron dynamics closely matched that of sensory inputs, while MTCs showed the highest diversity in responses, with a range of latencies and durations that could not be accounted for by heterogeneity in sensory input dynamics. Diversity was apparent even among “sister” tufted cells innervating the same glomerulus. Surprisingly, inhalation-linked responses of MTCs were highly overlapping and could not be distinguished on the basis of their inhalation-linked dynamics, with the exception of a subpopulation of superficial tufted cells expressing cholecystokinin (CCK). Our results are consistent with a model in which diversity in inhalation-linked patterning of OB output arises first at the level of sensory input and is enhanced by feedforward inhibition from juxtaglomerular interneurons which differentially impact different subpopulations of OB output neurons.
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49
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Liang X, Ho MCW, Zhang Y, Li Y, Wu MN, Holy TE, Taghert PH. Morning and Evening Circadian Pacemakers Independently Drive Premotor Centers via a Specific Dopamine Relay. Neuron 2019; 102:843-857.e4. [PMID: 30981533 PMCID: PMC6533154 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2019.03.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2018] [Revised: 02/06/2019] [Accepted: 03/19/2019] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Many animals exhibit morning and evening peaks of locomotor behavior. In Drosophila, two corresponding circadian neural oscillators-M (morning) cells and E (evening) cells-exhibit a corresponding morning or evening neural activity peak. Yet we know little of the neural circuitry by which distinct circadian oscillators produce specific outputs to precisely control behavioral episodes. Here, we show that ring neurons of the ellipsoid body (EB-RNs) display spontaneous morning and evening neural activity peaks in vivo: these peaks coincide with the bouts of locomotor activity and result from independent activation by M and E pacemakers. Further, M and E cells regulate EB-RNs via identified PPM3 dopaminergic neurons, which project to the EB and are normally co-active with EB-RNs. These in vivo findings establish the fundamental elements of a circadian neuronal output pathway: distinct circadian oscillators independently drive a common pre-motor center through the agency of specific dopaminergic interneurons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xitong Liang
- Department of Neuroscience, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Margaret C W Ho
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Yajun Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, Peking University School of Life Sciences, Beijing 100871, China; Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Yulong Li
- State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, Peking University School of Life Sciences, Beijing 100871, China; Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing 100871, China; Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Mark N Wu
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Timothy E Holy
- Department of Neuroscience, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Paul H Taghert
- Department of Neuroscience, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
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50
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Guo C, Pan Y, Gong Z. Recent Advances in the Genetic Dissection of Neural Circuits in Drosophila. Neurosci Bull 2019; 35:1058-1072. [PMID: 31119647 DOI: 10.1007/s12264-019-00390-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2018] [Accepted: 12/17/2018] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Nervous systems endow animals with cognition and behavior. To understand how nervous systems control behavior, neural circuits mediating distinct functions need to be identified and characterized. With superior genetic manipulability, Drosophila is a model organism at the leading edge of neural circuit analysis. We briefly introduce the state-of-the-art genetic tools that permit precise labeling of neurons and their interconnectivity and investigating what is happening in the brain of a behaving animal and manipulating neurons to determine how behaviors are affected. Brain-wide wiring diagrams, created by light and electron microscopy, bring neural circuit analysis to a new level and scale. Studies enabled by these tools advances our understanding of the nervous system in relation to cognition and behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chao Guo
- Key Laboratory of Developmental Genes and Human Disease of the Ministry of Education of China, Institute of Life Sciences, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210096, China.
| | - Yufeng Pan
- Key Laboratory of Developmental Genes and Human Disease of the Ministry of Education of China, Institute of Life Sciences, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210096, China
| | - Zhefeng Gong
- Department of Neurobiology, Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology of the Ministry of Health of China, Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310058, China
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