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The Journal of Neuroscience, March 19, 2008, 28(12):3131-3140; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5460-07.2008

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Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Nonlinear Integration of Binocular Optic Flow by DNOVS2, A Descending Neuron of the Fly

Adrian Wertz, Alexander Borst, and Juergen Haag

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

Correspondence should be addressed to Adrian Wertz, Department of Systems and Computational Neurobiology, Max-Planck-Institute of Neurobiology, Am Klopferspitz 18, D-82152 Martinsried, Germany. Email: wertz{at}neuro.mpg.de

For visual orientation and course stabilization, flies rely heavily on the optic flow perceived by the animal during flight. The processing of optic flow is performed in motion-sensitive tangential cells of the lobula plate, which are well described with respect to their visual response properties and the connectivity among them. However, little is known about the postsynaptic descending neurons, which convey motion information to the motor circuits in the thoracic ganglion. Here we investigate the physiology and connectivity of an identified premotor descending neuron, called DNOVS2 (for descending neuron of the ocellar and vertical system). We find that DNOVS2 is tuned in a supralinear way to rotation around the longitudinal body axis. Experiments involving stimulation of the ipsilateral and the contralateral eye indicate that ipsilateral computation of motion information is modified nonlinearly by motion information from the contralateral eye. Performing double recordings of DNOVS2 and lobula plate tangential cells, we find that DNOVS2 is connected ipsilaterally to a subset of vertical-sensitive cells. From the contralateral eye, DNOVS2 receives input most likely from V2, a heterolateral spiking neuron. This specific neural circuit is sufficient for the tuning of DNOVS2, making it probably an important element in optomotor roll movements of the head and body around the fly's longitudinal axis.

Key words: motion detection; insect; vision; descending; gap junction; flow field

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Received Dec. 11, 2007; revised Jan. 31, 2008; accepted Feb. 7, 2008.

Correspondence should be addressed to Adrian Wertz, Department of Systems and Computational Neurobiology, Max-Planck-Institute of Neurobiology, Am Klopferspitz 18, D-82152 Martinsried, Germany. Email: wertz{at}neuro.mpg.de

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. J. Huston and H. G. Krapp Nonlinear Integration of Visual and Haltere Inputs in Fly Neck Motor Neurons J. Neurosci., October 21, 2009; 29(42): 13097 - 13105. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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