Event:
We are delighted to announce our next Neuroscience Seminar Series talk. Presentations by experts in their field will take place both here at MPINB and via Zoom.
Eugenia Chiappe, Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown
"Brain-body interactions for flexible control
of walking in Drosophila"
Abstract: Movement control relies on a continuous mapping between sensory activity and movement parameters, comparing postural dynamics with animal goals. Yet, little is known about the configuration of circuits supporting this flexible mapping. My lab has been taking advantage of visually guided behaviors in the fly Drosophila melanogaster to investigate how self-generated sensory information controls locomotion in a goal-specific manner. Through a combination of quantitative tools for the analysis of behavior, physiology, and anatomy, we have begun to uncover the structure and function of visuomotor circuits contributing to exploratory walking behavior. During exploration flies adapt their behavior to maintain gaze stable, despite leg coordination variability. Self-generated visual information counteracts with postural reflexes that are responding to this variability, effectively rendering walking less mechanical stable in support of gaze control. We have been examining how optic flow sensitive networks, responsible for processing self-generated visual information during locomotion, orchestrate the trade-off between posture and gaze stability. Central recurrent inhibition plays a critical role in shaping optic flow processing to extract critical information for gaze stability. Moreover, optic flow sensitive neurons receive multimodal signals with three distinct functions: accurate encoding of self-rotation, moment-by-moment modulation for rapid steering control, and a longer-term, context-dependent modulation that engages the network when maintaining gaze stability is required. Our results show that optic flow-sensitive circuits integrate input from higher order brain areas as well as the ventral nerve cord of the fly, enabling to the premotor network to orchestrate the interplay between mechanical stability and movement flexibility. This orchestration occurs in a dynamic, goal-dependent and motorcontext specific manner.
In-Person
MPINB Lecture Hall, Ludwig-Erhard-Allee 2, 53175 Bonn
Zoom
https://mpinb-mpg-de.zoom.us/j/63767300567
Meeting-ID: 637 6730 0567
