Neural circuits and behavioral algorithms of path integration in freely walking Drosophila

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Andrew D. Straw
• Subject Area: Cognitive, Systems and Behavioural Neurobiology
• Term: since 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 455779009

The abilities of some insects to return to locations with food is remarkable, especially when considering the small size of their brain. While better known for its importance as a genetic model organism than as a great navigator, the fly Drosophila melanogaster was recently discovered to return to a food source when walking in a featureless, dark arena, suggesting the presence of spatial memory abilities related to those of the famous insect navigators – the bees. Thus, we now have the opportunity to study spatial cognition, memory and goal-directed movement in a species which has been at the forefront of genetic research for a century. Evidence from evolutionarily diverse insects – from locusts to beetles, bees and flies – suggests that a key brain region, the central complex, whose architecture shares many features in all these animals, is likely involved in coordinating such navigation. In this work, we will characterize the involvement of genetically accessible neurons in the central complex on path integration in freely walking Drosophila. Detailed neural circuit level computational models of path integration from other insects will be updated to correspond to flies. Several hypotheses regarding the specific function of individual neuron types will be evaluated numerically and then compared to the experimentally measured results to obtain insight into the neural circuits and behavioral algorithms of path integration. We will additionally make use of virtual reality for freely walking flies to test the involvement of visual memory and path integration in navigation. By obtaining detailed knowledge about the behavioral capabilities of food search and navigation in Drosophila – an extremely well-studied genetic model organism – we would contribute to an ability to discuss these important behaviors in the context of the relevant neural circuits. Given recent molecular data that shows patterns of developmental expression of key transcription factors seems conserved in patterning the insect central complex and the mammalian basal ganglia, this work may even be relevant for understanding neural control of navigation across bilaterian animals.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants