Better explicating the strengths and shortcomings of these models will help refine projections and improve transparency in the years ahead.
Image credit: Witsawat.S.
Edited by Richard A. Andersen, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, and approved October 26, 2012 (received for review June 20, 2012)
Abstract
Intercepting a moving object requires prediction of its future location. This complex task has been solved by dragonflies, who intercept their prey in midair with a 95% success rate. In this study, we show that a group of 16 neurons, called target-selective descending neurons (TSDNs), code a population vector that reflects the direction of the target with high accuracy and reliability across 360°. The TSDN spatial (receptive field) and temporal (latency) properties matched the area of the retina where the prey is focused and the reaction time, respectively, during predatory flights. The directional tuning curves and morphological traits (3D tracings) for each TSDN type were consistent among animals, but spike rates were not. Our results emphasize that a successful neural circuit for target tracking and interception can be achieved with few neurons and that in dragonflies this information is relayed from the brain to the wing motor centers in population vector form.
Footnotes
- ↵1To whom correspondence may be addressed. E-mail: paloma{at}mbl.edu.
↵2Present address: Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98103.
↵3Present address: Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819, China.
- ↵4To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: omega{at}umn.edu.
Author contributions: P.T.G.-B. and R.M.O. designed research; P.T.G.-B., H.P., and J.Y. performed research; P.T.G.-B., H.P., A.P.G., and R.M.O. analyzed data; and P.T.G.-B., H.P., A.P.G., and R.M.O. wrote the paper.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.
See Commentary on page 389.
This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1210489109/-/DCSupplemental.
Directional population vector code in a dragonfly
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- Neuroscience
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