State-dependent decoupling of sensory and motor circuits underlies behavioral flexibility in Drosophila.

ABSTRACT: An approaching predator and self-motion toward an object can generate similar looming patterns on the retina, but these situations demand different rapid responses. How central circuits flexibly process visual cues to activate appropriate, fast motor pathways remains unclear. Here we identify two descending neuron (DN) types that control landing and contribute to visuomotor flexibility in Drosophila. For each, silencing impairs visually evoked landing, activation drives landing, and spike rate determines leg extension amplitude. Critically, visual responses of both DNs are severely attenuated during non-flight periods, effectively decoupling visual stimuli from the landing motor pathway when landing is inappropriate. The flight-dependence mechanism differs between DN types. Octopamine expo

SUBMITTER: Ache JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7444277 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature