Discriminating external and internal causes for heading changes in freely flying Drosophila.

ABSTRACT: As animals move through the world in search of resources, they change course in reaction to both external sensory cues and internally-generated programs. Elucidating the functional logic of complex search algorithms is challenging because the observable actions of the animal cannot be unambiguously assigned to externally- or internally-triggered events. We present a technique that addresses this challenge by assessing quantitatively the contribution of external stimuli and internal processes. We apply this technique to the analysis of rapid turns ("saccades") of freely flying Drosophila melanogaster. We show that a single scalar feature computed from the visual stimulus experienced by the animal is sufficient to explain a majority (93%) of the turning decisions. We automatically estimate t

SUBMITTER: Censi A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3585425 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature