PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Haag, Juergen
AU  - Borst, Alexander
TI  - Dendro-Dendritic Interactions between Motion-Sensitive Large-Field Neurons in the Fly
AID  - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.22-08-03227.2002
DP  - 2002 Apr 15
TA  - The Journal of Neuroscience
PG  - 3227--3233
VI  - 22
IP  - 8
4099  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/22/8/3227.short
4100  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/22/8/3227.full
SO  - J. Neurosci.2002 Apr 15; 22
AB  - For visual course control, flies rely on a set of motion-sensitive neurons called lobula plate tangential cells (LPTCs). Among these cells, the so-called CH (centrifugal horizontal) cells shape by their inhibitory action the receptive field properties of other LPTCs called FD (figure detection) cells specialized for figure–ground discrimination based on relative motion. Studying the ipsilateral input circuitry of CH cells by means of dual-electrode and combined electrical–optical recordings, we find that CH cells receive graded input from HS (large-field horizontal system) cells via dendro-dendritic electrical synapses. This particular wiring scheme leads to a spatial blur of the motion image on the CH cell dendrite, and, after inhibiting FD cells, to an enhancement of motion contrast. This could be crucial for enabling FD cells to discriminate object from self motion.