Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28428563›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2017

A sublethal dose of a neonicotinoid insecticide disrupts visual processing and collision avoidance behaviour in Locusta migratoria.

Rachel H Parkinson, Jacelyn M Little, John R Gray

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

11 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Flupyradifurone impairs the processing of sound signals by the ascending interneurons AN1 and AN2 that convey auditory information to the cricket brain.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2026
    Article
  2. Organic Edible Insects-What Would It Take?Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025
    Review
  3. Article
  4. Flupyradifurone, imidacloprid and clothianidin disrupt the auditory processing in the locust CNS.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2025
    Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Neonicotinoid and sulfoximine pesticides differentially impair insect escape behavior and motion detection.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2020
    Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Rachel H ParkinsonDepartment of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
Jacelyn M LittleDepartment of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
John R GrayDepartment of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada. jack.gray@usask.ca.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Neonicotinoids are known to affect insect navigation and vision, however the mechanisms of these effects are not fully understood. A visual motion sensitive neuron in the locust, the Descending Contralateral Movement Detector (DCMD), integrates visual information and is involved in eliciting escape behaviours. The DCMD receives coded input from the compound eyes and monosynaptically excites motorneurons involved in flight and jumping. We show that imidacloprid (IMD) impairs neural responses to visual stimuli at sublethal concentrations, and these effects are sustained two and twenty-four hours after treatment. Most significantly, IMD disrupted bursting, a coding property important for motion detection. Specifically, IMD reduced the DCMD peak firing rate within bursts at ecologically relevant doses of 10 ng/g (ng IMD per g locust body weight). Effects on DCMD firing translate to deficits in collision avoidance behaviours: exposure to 10 ng/g IMD attenuates escape manoeuvers while 100 ng/g IMD prevents the ability to fly and walk. We show that, at ecologically-relevant doses, IMD causes significant and lasting impairment of an important pathway involved with visual sensory coding and escape behaviours. These results show, for the first time, that a neonicotinoid pesticide directly impairs an important, taxonomically conserved, motion-sensitive visual network.

Indexed as

MovementVisual PerceptionAnimalsFemaleInsecticidesLocusta migratoriaMaleNeonicotinoidsInsecticidesNeonicotinoids

Identifiers

PMID28428563
PMCPMC5430526

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.