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Diverse speed response properties of motion sensitive neurons in the fly’s optic lobe

Journal of Comparative Physiology A volume 193, pages 233–247 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Speed and acceleration are fundamental components of visual motion that animals can use to interpret the world. Behavioral studies have established that insects discriminate speed largely independently of contrast and spatial frequency, and physiological recordings suggest that a subset of premotor descending neurons is in this sense speed-selective. Neural substrates and mechanisms of speed selectivity in insects, however, are unknown. Using blow flies Phaenicia sericata, intracellular recordings and dye-fills were obtained from medulla and lobula complex neurons which, though not necessarily speed-selective themselves, are positioned to participate in circuits that produce speed-selectivity in descending neurons. Stimulation with sinusoidally varied grating motion (0–200°/s) provided a range of instantaneous velocities and accelerations. The resulting speed response profiles are indicative of four distinct speed ranges, supporting the hypothesis that the spatiotemporal tuning of mid-level neurons contains sufficient diversity to account for the emergence of speed selectivity at the descending neuron level. This type of mechanism has been proposed to explain speed discrimination in both insects and mammals, but has seemed less likely for insects due to possible constraints on small brains. Two additional recordings are suggestive of acceleration-selectivity, a potentially useful visual capability that is of uncertain functional significance for arthropods.

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Abbreviations

cpd:

Cycles per degree

emd:

Elementary motion detector

STF:

Spatiotemporal frequency

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Acknowledgments

We thank Drs. Wulfila Gronenberg, Charles M. Higgins and two anonymous reviewers for helpful discussions and critical comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by NIH 5 R01 RR008688-17. The experiments complied with the current laws of the United States and with “Principles of animal care”, publication No. 86-23, revised 1985 of the National Institutes of Health.

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  1. Arizona Research Laboratories, Division of Neurobiology, 611 Gould-Simpson Bldg., University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA

    John K. Douglass & Nicholas J. Strausfeld

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  1. John K. Douglass
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  2. Nicholas J. Strausfeld
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Correspondence to John K. Douglass.

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Douglass, J.K., Strausfeld, N.J. Diverse speed response properties of motion sensitive neurons in the fly’s optic lobe. J Comp Physiol A 193, 233–247 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-006-0185-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-006-0185-7

Keywords

  • Vision
  • Motion processing
  • Speed discrimination
  • Acceleration
  • Insecta