A neural model of landmark navigation in insects

Abstract

Central-place foragers like bees use landmark-based information in order to return to important locations. Experiments revealed that the insects store a “snapshot image” of the surroundings of the target location and derive a home direction by comparing current image and snapshot. A corresponding algorithmic model, the so-called “snapshot model”, was proposed by Cartwright and Collett (J. Comp. Physiol. A 151 (1983) 521–543). Here we present a neural architecture derived from this model that demonstrates how visual landmark navigation could be implemented in the insect's brain. The neural model closely resembles the snapshot model on both the functional and the behavioral level.