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Tanaka R, Zhou B, Agrochao M, Badwan BA, Au B, Matos NCB, Clark DA. Neural mechanisms to incorporate visual counterevidence in self motion estimation. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.01.04.522814. [PMID: 36711843 PMCID: PMC9881891 DOI: 10.1101/2023.01.04.522814] [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: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
In selecting appropriate behaviors, animals should weigh sensory evidence both for and against specific beliefs about the world. For instance, animals measure optic flow to estimate and control their own rotation. However, existing models of flow detection can confuse the movement of external objects with genuine self motion. Here, we show that stationary patterns on the retina, which constitute negative evidence against self rotation, are used by the fruit fly Drosophila to suppress inappropriate stabilizing rotational behavior. In silico experiments show that artificial neural networks optimized to distinguish self and world motion similarly detect stationarity and incorporate negative evidence. Employing neural measurements and genetic manipulations, we identified components of the circuitry for stationary pattern detection, which runs parallel to the fly's motion- and optic flow-detectors. Our results exemplify how the compact brain of the fly incorporates negative evidence to improve heading stability, exploiting geometrical constraints of the visual world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryosuke Tanaka
- Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
- Present Address: Institute of Neuroscience, Technical University of Munich, Munich 80802, Germany
| | - Baohua Zhou
- Department of Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
- Department of Statistics and Data Science, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
| | - Margarida Agrochao
- Department of Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
| | - Bara A. Badwan
- School of Engineering and Applied Science, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
| | - Braedyn Au
- Department of Physics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
| | - Natalia C. B. Matos
- Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
| | - Damon A. Clark
- Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
- Department of Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
- Department of Physics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
- Wu Tsai Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
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Rauscher MJ, Fox JL. Haltere and visual inputs sum linearly to predict wing (but not gaze) motor output in tethered flying Drosophila. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20202374. [PMID: 33499788 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.2374] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
In the true flies (Diptera), the hind wings have evolved into specialized mechanosensory organs known as halteres, which are sensitive to gyroscopic and other inertial forces. Together with the fly's visual system, the halteres direct head and wing movements through a suite of equilibrium reflexes that are crucial to the fly's ability to maintain stable flight. As in other animals (including humans), this presents challenges to the nervous system as equilibrium reflexes driven by the inertial sensory system must be integrated with those driven by the visual system in order to control an overlapping pool of motor outputs shared between the two of them. Here, we introduce an experimental paradigm for reproducibly altering haltere stroke kinematics and use it to quantify multisensory integration of wing and gaze equilibrium reflexes. We show that multisensory wing-steering responses reflect a linear superposition of haltere-driven and visually driven responses, but that multisensory gaze responses are not well predicted by this framework. These models, based on populations, extend also to the responses of individual flies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael J Rauscher
- Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106-7080, USA
| | - Jessica L Fox
- Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106-7080, USA
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Stanchak KE, French C, Perkel DJ, Brunton BW. The Balance Hypothesis for the Avian Lumbosacral Organ and an Exploration of Its Morphological Variation. Integr Org Biol 2020; 2:obaa024. [PMID: 33791565 PMCID: PMC7751001 DOI: 10.1093/iob/obaa024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Birds (Aves) exhibit exceptional and diverse locomotor behaviors, including the exquisite ability to balance on two feet. How birds so precisely control their movements may be partly explained by a set of intriguing modifications in their lower spine. These modifications are collectively known as the lumbosacral organ (LSO) and are found in the fused lumbosacral vertebrae called the synsacrum. They include a set of transverse canal-like recesses in the synsacrum that align with lateral lobes of the spinal cord, as well as a dorsal groove in the spinal cord that houses an egg-shaped glycogen body. Based on compelling but primarily observational data, the most recent functional hypotheses for the LSO consider it to be a secondary balance organ, in which the transverse canals are analogous to the semicircular canals of the inner ear. If correct, this hypothesis would reshape our understanding of avian locomotion, yet the LSO has been largely overlooked in the recent literature. Here, we review the current evidence for this hypothesis and then explore a possible relationship between the LSO and balance-intensive locomotor ecologies. Our comparative morphological dataset consists of micro-computed tomography (μ-CT) scans of synsacra from ecologically diverse species. We find that birds that perch tend to have more prominent transverse canals, suggesting that the LSO is useful for balance-intensive behaviors. We then identify the crucial outstanding questions about LSO structure and function. The LSO may be a key innovation that allows independent but coordinated motion of the head and the body, and a full understanding of its function and evolution will require multiple interdisciplinary research efforts.
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Affiliation(s)
- K E Stanchak
- Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - C French
- Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - D J Perkel
- Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - B W Brunton
- Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
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Ó Maoiléidigh D, Ricci AJ. A Bundle of Mechanisms: Inner-Ear Hair-Cell Mechanotransduction. Trends Neurosci 2019; 42:221-236. [PMID: 30661717 PMCID: PMC6402798 DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2018.12.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2018] [Revised: 12/17/2018] [Accepted: 12/18/2018] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
In the inner ear, the deflection of hair bundles, the sensory organelles of hair cells, activates mechanically-gated channels (MGCs). Hair bundles monitor orientation of the head, its angular and linear acceleration, and detect sound. Force applied to MGCs is shaped by intrinsic hair-bundle properties, by the mechanical load on the bundle, and by the filter imparted by the environment of the hair bundle. Channel gating and adaptation, the ability of the bundle to reset its operating point, contribute to hair-bundle mechanics. Recent data from mammalian hair cells challenge longstanding hypotheses regarding adaptation mechanisms and hair-bundle coherence. Variations between hair bundles from different organs in hair-bundle mechanics, mechanical load, channel gating, and adaptation may allow a hair bundle to selectively respond to specific sensory stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dáibhid Ó Maoiléidigh
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford CA 94305, USA
| | - Anthony J Ricci
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford CA 94305, USA.
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Aiello BR, Gillis GB, Fox JL. Sensory Feedback and Animal Locomotion: Perspectives from Biology and Biorobotics: An Introduction to the Symposium. Integr Comp Biol 2018; 58:827-831. [PMID: 30376105 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icy100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The successful completion of many behaviors relies on sensory feedback. This symposium brought together researchers using novel techniques to study how different stimuli are encoded, how and where multimodal feedback is integrated, and how feedback modulates motor output in diverse modes of locomotion (aerial, aquatic, and terrestrial) in a diverse range of taxa (insects, fish, tetrapods), and in robots. Similar to biological organisms, robots can be equipped with integrated sensors and can rely on sensory feedback to adjust the output signal of a controller. Engineers often look to biology for inspiration on how animals have evolved solutions to problems similar to those experienced in robotic movement. Similarly, biologists too must proactively engage with engineers to apply computer and robotic models to test hypotheses and answer questions on the capacity and roles of sensory feedback in generating effective movement. Through a diverse group of researchers, including both biologists and engineers, the symposium attempted to catalyze new interdisciplinary collaborations and identify future research directions for the development of bioinspired sensory control systems, as well as the use of robots to test hypotheses in neuromechanics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brett R Aiello
- Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, 1027 E. 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Gary B Gillis
- Department of Biological Sciences, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA 01075, USA
| | - Jessica L Fox
- Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
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