Building an allocentric travelling direction signal via vector computation.

ABSTRACT: Many behavioural tasks require the manipulation of mathematical vectors, but, outside of computational models^1-7, it is not known how brains perform vector operations. Here we show how the Drosophila central complex, a region implicated in goal-directed navigation^7-10, performs vector arithmetic. First, we describe a neural signal in the fan-shaped body that explicitly tracks the allocentric travelling angle of a fly, that is, the travelling angle in reference to external cues. Past work has identified neurons in Drosophila^8,11-13 and mammals¹⁴ that track the heading angle of an animal referenced to external cues (for example, head direction cells), but this new signal illuminates how the sense of space is properly updated when travelling and hea

SUBMITTER: Lyu C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11104186 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature