Plastic landmark anchoring in zebrafish compass neurons.

ABSTRACT: Vision can inform animals as they navigate their environment. Landmarks can be used to maintain heading, while optic flow can be integrated to estimate turning. Although it has been shown that head direction (HD) neurons in various species use these visual cues^1,2, the circuit mechanisms underlying this process in vertebrates remain unknown. Here we asked whether and how the recently identified HD cells in the larval zebrafish³, one of the smallest vertebrate models, incorporate visual information. By combining two-photon microscopy with a panoramic virtual reality setup, we demonstrate that the zebrafish HD cells can reliably track the orientation of multiple visual scenes, exploiting both visual landmarks and optic flow cues. The mapping between landmark cues and he

SUBMITTER: Tanaka R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12916487 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature