Spatial Comparisons of Mechanosensory Information Govern the Grooming Sequence in Drosophila.

ABSTRACT: Animals integrate information from different sensory modalities, body parts, and time points to inform behavioral choice, but the relevant sensory comparisons and the underlying neural circuits are still largely unknown. We use the grooming behavior of Drosophila melanogaster as a model to investigate the sensory comparisons that govern a motor sequence. Flies perform grooming movements spontaneously, but when covered with dust, they clean their bodies following an anterior-to-posterior sequence. After investigating different sensory modalities that could detect dust, we focus on mechanosensory bristle neurons, whose optogenetic activation induces a similar sequence. Computational modeling predicts that higher sensory input strength to the head will cause anterior grooming to occur first.

SUBMITTER: Zhang N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7184881 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature