Building a heading signal from anatomically defined neuron types in the Drosophila central complex.

Building a heading signal from anatomically defined neuron types in the Drosophila central complex.
Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2018 Jul 17;52:156-164
Authors: Green J, Maimon G
Abstract
A network of a few hundred neurons in the Drosophila central complex carries an estimate of the fly's heading in the world, akin to the mammalian head-direction system. Here we describe how anatomically defined neuronal classes in this network are poised to implement specific sub-processes for building and updating this population-level heading signal. The computations we describe in the fly central complex strongly resemble those posited to exist in the mammalian brain, in computational models for building head-direction signals. By linking circuit anatomy to navigational physiology, the Drosophila central complex should provide a detailed example of how a heading signal is built.
PMID: 30029143 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Source: Current Opinion in Neurobiology - July 17, 2018 Category: Neurology Authors: Green J, Maimon G Tags: Curr Opin Neurobiol Source Type: research