Verspui Remko, Gray John R
Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada S7N 5E2.
J Exp Biol. 2009 Oct;212(Pt 20):3272-82. doi: 10.1242/jeb.031591.
Animals rely on multimodal sensory integration for proper orientation within their environment. For example, odour-guided behaviours often require appropriate integration of concurrent visual cues. To gain a further understanding of mechanisms underlying sensory integration in odour-guided behaviour, our study examined the effects of visual stimuli induced by self-motion and object-motion on odour-guided flight in male M. sexta. By placing stationary objects (pillars) on either side of a female pheromone plume, moths produced self-induced visual motion during odour-guided flight. These flights showed a reduction in both ground and flight speeds and inter-turn interval when compared with flight tracks without stationary objects. Presentation of an approaching 20 cm disc, to simulate object-motion, resulted in interrupted odour-guided flight and changes in flight direction away from the pheromone source. Modifications of odour-guided flight behaviour in the presence of stationary objects suggest that visual information, in conjunction with olfactory cues, can be used to control the rate of counter-turning. We suggest that the behavioural responses to visual stimuli induced by object-motion indicate the presence of a neural circuit that relays visual information to initiate escape responses. These behavioural responses also suggest the presence of a sensory conflict requiring a trade-off between olfactory and visually driven behaviours. The mechanisms underlying olfactory and visual integration are discussed in the context of these behavioural responses.
动物依靠多模态感官整合在其环境中进行正确定向。例如，气味引导的行为通常需要同时整合适当的视觉线索。为了进一步了解气味引导行为中感官整合的潜在机制，我们的研究考察了自我运动和物体运动所引发的视觉刺激对雄性烟草天蛾气味引导飞行的影响。通过在雌性性信息素羽流两侧放置静止物体（柱子），蛾子在气味引导飞行过程中产生了自我诱发的视觉运动。与没有静止物体的飞行轨迹相比，这些飞行在地面速度、飞行速度和转弯间隔上均有所降低。呈现一个接近的20厘米圆盘以模拟物体运动，导致气味引导飞行中断，并使飞行方向远离性信息素源。在存在静止物体的情况下，气味引导飞行行为的改变表明视觉信息与嗅觉线索相结合，可用于控制反向转弯的速率。我们认为，对物体运动引发的视觉刺激的行为反应表明存在一个神经回路，该回路传递视觉信息以启动逃避反应。这些行为反应还表明存在一种感官冲突。需要在嗅觉驱动行为和视觉驱动行为之间进行权衡。本文结合这些行为反应对嗅觉和视觉整合的潜在机制进行了讨论。
