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The Journal of Neuroscience, October 29, 2003, 23(30):9805-9811

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Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Input Organization of Multifunctional Motion-Sensitive Neurons in the Blowfly

Karl Farrow, Juergen Haag, and Alexander Borst

Department of Systems and Computational Neurobiology, Max-Plank-Institute of Neurobiology, 82152 Martinsried, Germany

Flies rely heavily on visual motion cues for course control. This is mediated by a small set of motion-sensitive neurons called lobula plate tangential cells. A single class of these, the centrifugal horizontal (CH) neurons, play an important role in two pathways: figure-ground discrimination and flow-field selectivity. As was recently found, the dendrites of CH cells are electrically coupled with the dendritic tree of another class of neurons sensitive to horizontal image motion, the horizontal system (HS) cells. However, whether motion information arrives independently at both of these cells or is passed from one to the other is not known. Here, we examine the ipsilateral input circuitry to HS and CH neurons by selective laser ablation of individual interneurons. We find that the response of CH neurons to motion presented in front of the ipsilateral eye is entirely abolished after ablation of HS cells. In contrast, the motion response of HS cells persists after the ablation of CH cells. We conclude that HS cells receive direct motion input from local motion elements, whereas CH cells do not; their motion response is driven by HS cells. This connection scheme is discussed with reference to how the dendritic networks involved in figure-ground detection and flow-field selectivity might operate.

Key words: insect; blowfly; laser ablation; electrophysiology; motion detection; dendritic processing; vision

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Received July 8, 2003; revised August 13, 2003; accepted September 2, 2003.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. Wertz, A. Borst, and J. Haag Nonlinear Integration of Binocular Optic Flow by DNOVS2, A Descending Neuron of the Fly J. Neurosci., March 19, 2008; 28(12): 3131 - 3140. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Haag, A. Wertz, and A. Borst Integration of Lobula Plate Output Signals by DNOVS1, an Identified Premotor Descending Neuron J. Neurosci., February 21, 2007; 27(8): 1992 - 2000. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Kalb, M. Egelhaaf, and R. Kurtz Robust integration of motion information in the fly visual system revealed by single cell photoablation. J. Neurosci., July 26, 2006; 26(30): 7898 - 7906. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. H. van Hateren, R. Kern, G. Schwerdtfeger, and M. Egelhaaf Function and Coding in the Blowfly H1 Neuron during Naturalistic Optic Flow J. Neurosci., April 27, 2005; 25(17): 4343 - 4352. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. Farrow, A. Borst, and J. Haag Sharing Receptive Fields with Your Neighbors: Tuning the Vertical System Cells to Wide Field Motion J. Neurosci., April 13, 2005; 25(15): 3985 - 3993. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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