Species-Specific Flight Styles of Flies are Reflected in the Response Dynamics of a Homolog Motion-Sensitive Neuron

Geurten, Bart R. H.Bart R. H.GeurtenKern, RolandRolandKernEgelhaaf, MartinMartinEgelhaaf2019-07-092019-07-092012-03-19https://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl?gro-2/60751Hoverfliesandblowflieshavedistinctlydifferentflightstyles.Yet,bothspecieshavebeenshowntostructuretheirflightbehaviorinawaythatfacilitatesextractionof3Dinformationfromtheimageflowontheretinaopticflow).Neuronalcandidatestoanalyzetheopticflowarethetangentialcellsinthethirdopticalganglion–thelobulacomplex.Theseneuronsaredirectionallyselectiveandintegratetheopticflowoverlargepartsofthevisualfield.Homologtangentialcellsinhoverfliesandblowflieshaveasimilarmorphology.Becauseblowfliesandhoverflieshavesimilarneuronallayoutbutdistinctlydifferentflightbehav-iors,theyareanidealsubstratetopinpointpotentialneuronaladaptationstothedifferentflightstyles.Inthisarticlewedescribetherelationshipbetweenlocomotionbehaviorandmotionvisiononthreedifferentlevels:(1)Wecomparethedifferentflightstylesbasedonthecategorizationofflightbehaviorintoprototypicalmovements.(2)Wemeasurethespecies-specificdynamicsoftheopticflowundernaturalisticflightconditions.Wefoundthetranslationalopticflowofbothspeciestobeverydifferent.(3)Wedescribepossi-bleadaptationsofahomologmotion-sensitiveneuron.Westimulatethiscellinblowflies(Calliphora)andhoverflies(Eristalis)withnaturalisticopticflowgeneratedbybothspeciesduringfreeflight.Thecharacterizedhoverflytangentialcellrespondsfastertotransientchangesintheopticflowthanitsblowflyhomolog.Itisdiscussedwhetherandhowthedifferentdynamicalresponsepropertiesaidopticflowanalysis.15enCC BY 3.0https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0Species-Specific Flight Styles of Flies are Reflected in the Response Dynamics of a Homolog Motion-Sensitive Neuronjournal_article10.3389/fnint.2012.00011586582https://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl?gs-1/9775