Descending control and regulation of spontaneous flight turns in Drosophila.

ABSTRACT: The clumped distribution of resources in the world has influenced the pattern of foraging behavior since the origins of locomotion, selecting for a common search motif in which straight movements through resource-poor regions alternate with zig-zag exploration in resource-rich domains. For example, during local search, flying flies spontaneously execute rapid flight turns, called body saccades, but suppress these maneuvers during long-distance dispersal or when surging upstream toward an attractive odor. Here, we describe the key cellular components of a neural network in flies that generate spontaneous turns as well as a specialized pair of neurons that inhibits the network and suppresses turning. Using 2-photon imaging, optogenetic activation, and genetic ablation, we show that only four

SUBMITTER: Ros IG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10872223 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature