RIKEN Center for Brain Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan.
RIKEN Center for Brain Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan.
Neuron. 2020 Apr 8;106(1):126-141.e5. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2020.01.009. Epub 2020 Feb 4.
An internal sense of heading direction is computed from various cues, including steering maneuvers of the animal. Although neurons encoding heading and steering have been found in multiple brain regions, it is unclear whether and how they are organized into neural circuits. Here we show that, in flying Drosophila, heading and turning behaviors are encoded by population dynamics of specific cell types connecting the subregions of the central complex (CX), a brain structure implicated in navigation. Columnar neurons in the fan-shaped body (FB) of the CX exhibit circular dynamics that multiplex information about turning behavior and heading. These dynamics are coordinated with those in the ellipsoid body, another CX subregion containing a heading representation, although only FB neurons flip turn preference depending on the visual environment. Thus, the navigational system spans multiple subregions of the CX, where specific cell types show coordinated but distinct context-dependent dynamics.
从各种线索中计算出内部的朝向感，包括动物的转向动作。尽管已经在多个大脑区域中发现了编码朝向和转向的神经元，但尚不清楚它们是否以及如何组织成神经回路。在这里，我们表明，在飞行的果蝇中，朝向和转弯行为是由连接中央复合体（CX）的特定细胞类型的群体动力学编码的，CX 是一种与导航有关的大脑结构。CX 的扇形体（FB）中的柱状神经元表现出循环动力学，可将有关转弯行为和朝向的信息进行多路复用。这些动力学与另一个包含朝向表示的 CX 子区域的椭圆体的动力学相协调，尽管只有 FB 神经元根据视觉环境翻转转弯偏好。因此，导航系统跨越了 CX 的多个子区域，其中特定的细胞类型表现出协调但又具有独特的上下文相关的动力学。
