Abstract
The insect central complex (CX) is thought to underlie goal-oriented navigation but its functional organization is not fully understood. We recorded from genetically-identified CX cell types in Drosophila and presented directional visual, olfactory, and airflow cues known to elicit orienting behavior. We found that a group of neurons targeting the ventral fan-shaped body (ventral P-FNs) are robustly tuned for airflow direction. Ventral P-FNs did not generate a 'map' of airflow direction. Instead, cells in each hemisphere were tuned to 45° ipsilateral, forming a pair of orthogonal bases. Imaging experiments suggest that ventral P-FNs inherit their airflow tuning from neurons that provide input from the lateral accessory lobe (LAL) to the noduli (NO). Silencing ventral P-FNs prevented flies from selecting appropriate corrective turns following changes in airflow direction. Our results identify a group of CX neurons that robustly encode airflow direction and are required for proper orientation to this stimulus.
Highlights
Foraging for food, locating mates, and avoiding predation all depend on an animal’s ability to navigate through complex multi-sensory environments
The CX is a highly organized neuropil consisting of four primary subregions: the protocerebral bridge (PB), the ellipsoid body (EB), the fan-shaped body (FB), and the paired noduli (NO)
We found that columnar neurons targeting the ventral layers of the FB and the third compartment of the nodulus (‘ventral P-FNs’) were robustly tuned for the direction of airflow, but not our other stimuli
Summary
Foraging for food, locating mates, and avoiding predation all depend on an animal’s ability to navigate through complex multi-sensory environments. In the EB, a group of ‘compass neurons’ (or E-PGs) exhibit an abstract map of heading angle that is derived from both visual and airflow landmark cues (Seelig and Jayaraman, 2015; Green et al, 2017; Fisher et al, 2019; Shiozaki et al, 2020; Okubo et al, 2020) Another set of EB neurons, known as P-ENs, rotate this heading representation when the fly turns in darkness (Green et al, 2017; Turner-Evans et al, 2017). Our results support the hypothesis that different CX compartments represent sensory information in distinct formats, and identify a neural locus in the ventral FB that promotes orientation to airflow
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
