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The functional organization of male-specific visual neurons in flies

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Summary

Intracellular recording and Lucifer yellow dye filling of male fleshflies, Sarcophaga bullata, have revealed male-specific neurons in the lobula, the axons of which project to the origin of premotor channels supplying flight motor neurons. Dendrites of male-specific neurons visit areas of the retinotopic mosaic supplied by the retina's acute zone, which is used by males to keep the image of a conspecific female centered during aerial pursuit. Only males engage in high-speed acrobatic chases, and male-specific neurons are suspected to under-lie this behavior. Physiological determination of receptive fields of male-specific neurons substantiates the fields predicted from anatomical studies and demonstrates that they subtend the acute zone. Male-specific neurons respond in a manner predicted on theoretical grounds from observations of tracking behavior. Such properties include directional selectivity to visual motion and higher sensitivity to motion of small images than to wide-field motion. The present account substantiates and extends neuroanatomical evidence that predicts that male-specific lobula neurons comprise a distinct circuit mediating conspecific tracking.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Arizona Research Laboratories, Division of Neurobiology and Center For Insect Science, University of Arizona, 611 Gould-Simpson Building, 85721, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Cole Gilbert & Nicholas J. Strausfeld

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  1. Cole Gilbert
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  2. Nicholas J. Strausfeld
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Gilbert, C., Strausfeld, N.J. The functional organization of male-specific visual neurons in flies. J Comp Physiol A 169, 395–411 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00197653

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