Matched-filter coding of sky polarization results in an internal sun compass in the brain of the desert locust.

ABSTRACT: Many animals use celestial cues for spatial orientation. These include the sun and, in insects, the polarization pattern of the sky, which depends on the position of the sun. The central complex in the insect brain plays a key role in spatial orientation. In desert locusts, the angle of polarized light in the zenith above the animal and the direction of a simulated sun are represented in a compass-like fashion in the central complex, but how both compasses fit together for a unified representation of external space remained unclear. To address this question, we analyzed the sensitivity of intracellularly recorded central-complex neurons to the angle of polarized light presented from up to 33 positions in the animal's dorsal visual field and injected Neurobiotin tracer for cell identificati

SUBMITTER: Zittrell F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7568284 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature