scholarly journals Aerial course stabilization is impaired in motion-blind flies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria-Bianca Leonte ◽  
Aljoscha Leonhardt ◽  
Alexander Borst ◽  
Alex S. Mauss
Keyword(s):  
Visual Motion ◽  
Flight Performance ◽  
Propulsive Force ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Flight Trajectory ◽  
Free Flight ◽  
Motion Vision ◽  
Circling Behaviour ◽  
Course Control ◽  
Course Changes

Visual motion detection is among the best understood neuronal computations. As extensively investigated in tethered flies, visual motion signals are assumed to be crucial to detect and counteract involuntary course deviations. During free flight, however, course changes are also signalled by other sensory systems. Therefore, it is yet unclear to what extent motion vision contributes to course control. To address this question, we genetically rendered flies motion-blind by blocking their primary motion-sensitive neurons and quantified their free-flight performance. We found that such flies have difficulties maintaining a straight flight trajectory, much like unimpaired flies in the dark. By unilateral wing clipping, we generated an asymmetry in propulsive force and tested the ability of flies to compensate for this perturbation. While wild-type flies showed a remarkable level of compensation, motion-blind animals exhibited pronounced circling behaviour. Our results therefore directly confirm that motion vision is necessary to fly straight under realistic conditions.

scholarly journals Aerial course stabilization is impaired in motion-blind flies

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria-Bianca Leonte ◽  
Aljoscha Leonhardt ◽  
Alexander Borst ◽  
Alex S. Mauss
Keyword(s):  
Motion Detection ◽  
Visual Motion ◽  
Flight Performance ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Flight Trajectory ◽  
Free Flight ◽  
Motion Vision ◽  
Circling Behaviour ◽  
Course Control ◽  
Self Motion

AbstractVisual motion detection is among the best understood neuronal computations. One assumed behavioural role is to detect self-motion and to counteract involuntary course deviations, extensively investigated in tethered walking or flying flies. In free flight, however, any deviation from a straight course is signalled by both the visual system as well as by proprioceptive mechanoreceptors called ‘halteres’, which are the equivalent of the vestibular system in vertebrates. Therefore, it is yet unclear to what extent motion vision contributes to course control, or whether straight flight is completely controlled by proprioceptive feedback from the halteres. To answer these questions, we genetically rendered flies motion-blind by blocking their primary motion-sensitive neurons and quantified their free-flight performance. We found that such flies have difficulties maintaining a straight flight trajectory, much like control flies in the dark. By unilateral wing clipping, we generated an asymmetry in propulsory force and tested the ability of flies to compensate for this perturbation. While wild-type flies showed a remarkable level of compensation, motion-blind animals exhibited pronounced circling behaviour. Our results therefore unequivocally demonstrate that motion vision is necessary to fly straight under realistic conditions.

Fly motion vision: from optic flow to visual course control

e-Neuroforum ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Borst
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Optic Flow ◽  
Visual Motion ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Motion Vision ◽  
Parallel Motion ◽  
Input Signals ◽  
Course Control ◽  
L1 And L2

AbstractOptic flow-based navigation has been stud­ied extensively in flies, both in tethered as well as in freely flying animals. As neural con­trol elements, the tangential cells of the lobu­la plate seem to play a key role: they are sen­sitive to visual motion, have large receptive fields, and, with their spatial distribution of preferred directions, match the optic flow as elicited during certain types of flight maneu­vers. However, the neural circuit presynaptic to the tangential cells responsible for extract­ing the direction of motion locally has long escaped investigation, due to the small size of the participating neurons. Recent prog­ress was made here by combining genetic si­lencing of candidate neurons with whole-cell patch recording from tangential cells in Dro­sophila. This approach led to the identifica­tion of lamina neurons L1 and L2 providing the input signals to two parallel motion de­tection circuits, specialized for brightness in­crements (L1, ON-pathway) and decrements (L2, OFF-pathway), respectively.

Determining Free Flight Performance by Surveying Engineering Techniques

2006 ◽  
Vol 132 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. F. Teskey ◽  
D. H. Adler ◽  
W. J. Teskey
Keyword(s):  
Flight Performance ◽  
Free Flight

scholarly journals Neuronal circuits integrating visual motion information in Drosophila

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazunori Shinomiya ◽  
Aljoscha Nern ◽  
Ian Meinertzhagen ◽  
Stephen M Plaza ◽  
Michael B Reiser
Keyword(s):  
Feature Detection ◽  
Visual Motion ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Motion Vision ◽  
Core Motif ◽  
Motor Pathways ◽  
Lobula Plate ◽  
Anatomical Basis ◽  
Animal Navigation ◽  
3D Electron Microscopy

The detection of visual motion enables sophisticated animal navigation, and studies in flies have provided profound insights into the cellular and circuit basis of this neural computation. The fly's directionally selective T4 and T5 neurons respectively encode ON and OFF motion. Their axons terminate in one of four retinotopic layers in the lobula plate, where each layer encodes one of four cardinal directions of motion. While the input circuitry of the directionally selective neurons has been studied in detail, the synaptic connectivity of circuits integrating T4/T5 motion signals is largely unknown. Here we report a 3D electron microscopy reconstruction, wherein we comprehensively identified T4/T5's synaptic partners in the lobula plate, revealing a diverse set of new cell types and attributing new connectivity patterns to known cell types. Our reconstruction explains how the ON and OFF motion pathways converge. T4 and T5 cells that project to the same layer, connect to common synaptic partners symmetrically, that is with similar weights, and also comprise a core motif together with bilayer interneurons, detailing the circuit basis for computing motion opponency. We discovered pathways that likely encode new directions of motion by integrating vertical and horizontal motion signals from upstream T4/T5 neurons. Finally, we identify substantial projections into the lobula, extending the known motion pathways and suggesting that directionally selective signals shape feature detection there. The circuits we describe enrich the anatomical basis for experimental and computations analyses of motion vision and bring us closer to understanding complete sensory-motor pathways.

New atmospheric data model for constant altitude accelerated flight performance prediction calculations and flight trajectory optimization algorithms

2020 ◽  
pp. 095441002094555
Author(s):  
Radu I Dancila ◽  
Ruxandra M Botez
Keyword(s):  
Performance Prediction ◽  
Data Model ◽  
Trajectory Optimization ◽  
Computation Time ◽  
Atmospheric Parameter ◽  
Flight Performance ◽  
Flight Trajectory ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Atmospheric Data ◽  
Constant Altitude

This article presents a new method for storing and computing the atmospheric data used in time-critical flight trajectory performance prediction calculations, such as flight performance prediction calculations in flight management systems and/or flight trajectory optimization, of constant altitude cruise segments. The proposed model is constructed based on the forecast data provided by Meteorological Service Agencies, in a GRIB2 data file format, and the set of waypoints that define the lateral component of the evaluated flight profile(s). The atmospheric data model can be constructed/updated in the background or off-line, when new atmospheric prediction data are available, and subsequently used in the flight performance computations. The results obtained using the proposed model show that, on average, the atmospheric parameter values are computed six times faster than through 4D linear interpolations, while yielding identical results (value differences of the order of 10e−14). When used in flight trajectory performance calculations, the obtained results show that the proposed model conducts to significant computation time improvements. The proposed model can be extended to define the atmospheric data for a set of cruise levels (usually multiple of 1000 ft).

scholarly journals Synapses in the Fly Motion–Vision Pathway: Evidence for a Broad Range of Signal Amplitudes and Dynamics

2007 ◽  
Vol 97 (3) ◽  
pp. 2032-2041 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrich Beckers ◽  
Martin Egelhaaf ◽  
Rafael Kurtz
Keyword(s):  
Visual Motion ◽  
Visual Signals ◽  
Unexpected Finding ◽  
Mixed Potential ◽  
Frequency Range ◽  
Motion Velocity ◽  
Motion Vision ◽  
Preferred Direction ◽  
Spike Signals

Synapses are generally considered to operate efficiently only when their signaling range matches the spectrum of prevailing presynaptic signals in terms of both amplitudes and dynamics. However, the prerequisites for optimally matching the signaling ranges may differ between spike-mediated and graded synaptic transmission. This poses a problem for synapses that convey both graded and spike signals at the same time. We addressed this issue by tracing transmission systematically in vivo in the blowfly's visual-motion pathway by recording from single neurons that receive mixed potential signals consisting of rather slow graded fluctuations superimposed with highly variable spikes from a small number of presynaptic elements. Both pre- and postsynaptic neurons were previously shown to represent preferred-direction motion velocity reliably and linearly at low fluctuation frequencies. To selectively assess the performance of individual synapses and to precisely control presynaptic signals, we voltage clamped one of the presynaptic neurons. Results showed that synapses can effectively convey signals over a much larger amplitude and frequency range than is normally used during graded transmission of visual signals. An explanation for this unexpected finding might lie in the transmission of the spike component that reaches larger amplitudes and contains higher frequencies than graded signals.

The flight performance of a damselfly Ceriagrion melanurum Selys

1997 ◽  
Vol 200 (12) ◽  
pp. 1765-1779 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Sato ◽  
A Azuma
Keyword(s):  
Phase Shift ◽  
Specific Power ◽  
Flight Performance ◽  
Free Flight ◽  
Local Circulation ◽  
Kinematic Data ◽  
Circulation Method ◽  
Vorticity Distribution ◽  
Trailing Vortices ◽  
Wing Tips

The local circulation method was applied to the free forward flight of the damselfly Ceriagrion melanurum Selys. The kinematic data used in the calculations were obtained by analyzing video-taped images of damselflies in free flight in a transparent container. The inclination of the stroke plane was smaller and the flapping amplitude was larger than those of dragonflies reported in other studies on odonate flight. However, the phase shift between the fore- and hindwings agreed with none of the previously reported patterns for damselflies: the forewings lead the hindwings by approximately a quarter-period. The calculated forces were within the expected range of error. The muscle-mass-specific power was between 40 and 80 W kg-1. The vorticity distribution of trailing and shed vortices in the wake was also analyzed. Strong trailing vortices were observed at the wing tips, whereas shed vortices were concentrated near the wing root as the stroke switched direction.

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