Abstract
Flies actively turn their head during flight to stabilize their gaze and reduce motion blur. This optomotor response is triggered by wide-field motion indicating a deviation from a desired flight path. We focus on the neuronal circuit that underlies this behavior in the blowfly Calliphora, studying the integration of optic flow in neck motor neurons that innervate muscles controlling head rotations. Frontal nerve motor neurons (FNMNs) have been described anatomically and recorded from extracellularly before. Here, we assign for the first time to five anatomical classes of FNMNs their visual motion tuning. We measured their responses to optic flow, as produced by rotations around particular body axes, recording intracellularly from single axons. Simultaneous injection of Neurobiotin allowed for the anatomical characterization of the recorded cells and revealed coupling patterns with neighboring neurons. The five FNMN classes can be divided into two groups that complement each other, regarding their preferred axes of rotation. The tuning matches the pulling planes of their innervated neck muscles, serving to rotate the head around its longitudinal axis. Anatomical and physiological findings demonstrate a synaptic connection between one FNMN and a well-described descending neuron, elucidating one important step from visual motion integration to neck motor output.
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Abbreviations
- FN:
-
Frontal nerve
- FNMN:
-
Frontal nerve motor neuron
- LPTC:
-
Lobula plate tangential cell
- HS:
-
Horizontal system
- VS:
-
Vertical system
- CN:
-
Cervical nerve
- CNMN:
-
Cervical nerve motor neuron
- VCN:
-
Ventral cervical nerve
- ADN:
-
Anterior dorsal nerve
- DNOVS:
-
Descending neuron of the ocellar and vertical system
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Acknowledgments
We are grateful to Renate Gleich and Ursula Weber for their excellent technical assistance and to Hubert Eichner for writing the haltere tracking programme. This work was supported by the Max-Planck-Society. All applicable international, national and institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.
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Kauer, I., Borst, A. & Haag, J. Complementary motion tuning in frontal nerve motor neurons of the blowfly. J Comp Physiol A 201, 411–426 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-015-0980-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-015-0980-0