ArticleCurrent biology : CB2024
Descending control and regulation of spontaneous flight turns in Drosophila.
Article in Current biology : CB, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
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18 citing papers in PubMed, 34 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Multisensory integration for active mechanosensation in Drosophila flight.Current biology : CB · 2026Article
- Drosophila DNp03 descending neurons serve as a hub within a flight saccade network.Current biology : CB · 2026Article
- Neural control of coordinated wing and leg movements during a terrestrial threat display.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
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- Multisensory integration for active mechanosensation inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Specialized parallel pathways for adaptive control of visual object pursuit.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Inhibitory control explains locomotor statistics in walkingProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Inhibitory control of locomotor statistics in walkingbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Divergent visual ecology of Drosophila species drives object-tracking strategies matched to landscape sparsity.Current biology : CB · 2024Article
- Wind gates olfaction-driven search states in free flight.Current biology : CB · 2024Article
- Insect Flight: State of the Field and Future Directions.Integrative and comparative biology · 2024Article
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- Asynchronous haltere input drives specific wing and head movements inProceedings. Biological sciences · 2024Article
- Morphology and synapse topography optimize linear encoding of synapse numbers inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Descending control of motor sequences in Drosophila.Current opinion in neurobiology · 2024Review
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3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
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Abstract
The clumped distribution of resources in the world has influenced the pattern of foraging behavior since the origins of locomotion, selecting for a common search motif in which straight movements through resource-poor regions alternate with zig-zag exploration in resource-rich domains. For example, during local search, flying flies spontaneously execute rapid flight turns, called body saccades, but suppress these maneuvers during long-distance dispersal or when surging upstream toward an attractive odor. Here, we describe the key cellular components of a neural network in flies that generate spontaneous turns as well as a specialized pair of neurons that inhibits the network and suppresses turning. Using 2-photon imaging, optogenetic activation, and genetic ablation, we show that only four descending neurons appear sufficient to generate the descending commands to execute flight saccades. The network is organized into two functional units-one for right turns and one for left-with each unit consisting of an excitatory (DNae014) and an inhibitory (DNb01) neuron that project to the flight motor neuropil within the ventral nerve cord. Using resources from recently published connectomes of the fly, we identified a pair of large, distinct interneurons (VES041) that form inhibitory connections to all four saccade command neurons and created specific genetic driver lines for this cell. As predicted by its connectivity, activation of VES041 strongly suppresses saccades, suggesting that it promotes straight flight to regulate the transition between local search and long-distance dispersal. These results thus identify the key elements of a network that may play a crucial role in foraging ecology.
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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.