scholarly journals Spectral properties of identified polarized-light sensitive interneurons in the brain of the desert locust Schistocerca gregaria

2007 ◽  
Vol 210 (8) ◽  
pp. 1350-1361 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Kinoshita ◽  
K. Pfeiffer ◽  
U. Homberg
Keyword(s):  
Spectral Properties ◽  
Schistocerca Gregaria ◽  
Polarized Light ◽  
Desert Locust ◽  
The Brain

Standardized atlas of the brain of the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria

2008 ◽  
Vol 333 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela E. Kurylas ◽  
Torsten Rohlfing ◽  
Sabine Krofczik ◽  
Arnim Jenett ◽  
Uwe Homberg
Keyword(s):  
Schistocerca Gregaria ◽  
Desert Locust ◽  
The Brain

scholarly journals Amplitude and dynamics of polarization-plane signaling in the central complex of the locust brain

2015 ◽  
Vol 113 (9) ◽  
pp. 3291-3311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Bockhorst ◽  
Uwe Homberg
Keyword(s):  
Schistocerca Gregaria ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Polarized Light ◽  
Polarization Plane ◽  
Field Vector ◽  
Central Complex ◽  
Output Stage ◽  
Heading Direction ◽  
Vector Angle ◽  
The Brain

The polarization pattern of skylight provides a compass cue that various insect species use for allocentric orientation. In the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria, a network of neurons tuned to the electric field vector ( E-vector) angle of polarized light is present in the central complex of the brain. Preferred E-vector angles vary along slices of neuropils in a compasslike fashion (polarotopy). We studied how the activity in this polarotopic population is modulated in ways suited to control compass-guided locomotion. To this end, we analyzed tuning profiles using measures of correlation between spike rate and E-vector angle and, furthermore, tested for adaptation to stationary angles. The results suggest that the polarotopy is stabilized by antagonistic integration across neurons with opponent tuning. Downstream to the input stage of the network, responses to stationary E-vector angles adapted quickly, which may correlate with a tendency to steer a steady course previously observed in tethered flying locusts. By contrast, rotating E-vectors corresponding to changes in heading direction under a natural sky elicited nonadapting responses. However, response amplitudes were particularly variable at the output stage, covarying with the level of ongoing activity. Moreover, the responses to rotating E-vector angles depended on the direction of rotation in an anticipatory manner. Our observations support a view of the central complex as a substrate of higher-stage processing that could assign contextual meaning to sensory input for motor control in goal-driven behaviors. Parallels to higher-stage processing of sensory information in vertebrates are discussed.

scholarly journals Evidence for the cholinergic markers ChAT and vAChT in sensory cells of the developing antennal nervous system of the desert locust Schistocerca gregaria

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Erica Ehrhardt ◽  
George Boyan
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Schistocerca Gregaria ◽  
Central Complex ◽  
Sensory Cells ◽  
Desert Locust ◽  
Cholinergic Transmission ◽  
Sensory Axons ◽  
First Instar ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Antennal Nerve

AbstractSensory and motor systems in insects with hemimetabolous development must be ready to mediate adaptive behavior directly on hatching from the egg. For the desert locust S. gregaria, cholinergic transmission from antennal sensillae to olfactory or mechanosensory centers in the brain requires that choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and the vesicular acetylcholine transporter (vAChT) already be present in sensory cells in the first instar. In this study, we used immunolabeling to demonstrate that ChAT and vAChT are both expressed in sensory cells from identifiable sensilla types in the immature antennal nervous system. We observed ChAT expression in dendrites, neurites and somata of putative basiconic-type sensillae at the first instar stage. We also detected vAChT in the sensory axons of these sensillae in a major antennal nerve tract. We then examined whether evidence for cholinergic transmission is present during embryogenesis. Immunolabeling confirms that vAChT is expressed in somata typical of campaniform sensillae, as well as in small sensory cell clusters typically associated with either a large basiconic or coeloconic sensilla, at 99% of embryogenesis. The vAChT is also expressed in the somata of these sensilla types in multiple antennal regions at 90% of embryogenesis, but not at earlier (70%) embryonic stages. Neuromodulators are known to appear late in embryogenesis in neurons of the locust central complex, and the cholinergic system of the antenna may also only reach maturity shortly before hatching.

Polarization-Sensitive and Light-Sensitive Neurons in Two Parallel Pathways Passing Through the Anterior Optic Tubercle in the Locust Brain

2005 ◽  
Vol 94 (6) ◽  
pp. 3903-3915 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keram Pfeiffer ◽  
Michiyo Kinoshita ◽  
Uwe Homberg
Keyword(s):  
Schistocerca Gregaria ◽  
Polarized Light ◽  
Central Complex ◽  
Stimulus Position ◽  
Sun Compass ◽  
Lower Unit ◽  
Linearly Polarized ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Lateral Accessory Lobe

Many migrating animals use a sun compass for long-range navigation. One of the guiding cues used by insects is the polarization pattern of the blue sky. In the desert locust Schistocerca gregaria, neurons of the central complex, a neuropil in the center of the brain, are sensitive to polarized light and might serve a key role in compass navigation. Visual pathways to the central complex include signal processing in the upper and lower units of the anterior optic tubercle. To determine whether these pathways carry polarization-vision signals, we have recorded the responses of interneurons of the optic tubercle of the locust to visual stimuli including polarized light. All neurons of the lower unit but only one of five recorded neurons of the upper unit of the tubercle were sensitive to linearly polarized light presented in the dorsal visual field. These neurons showed polarization opponency, or a sinusoidal modulation of activity, during stimulation through a rotating polarizer. Two types of bilateral interneurons preferred particular e-vector orientations, reflecting the presence of bilateral pairs of these neurons in the brain. We show here for the first time neurons with projections to the lateral accessory lobe that are suited to provide polarization input to the central complex. All neurons of the tubercle, furthermore, responded to unpolarized light, mostly with tonic activity changes. These responses strongly depended on stimulus position and might reflect navigation-relevant signals such as direct sunlight or visual landmarks that are integrated with polarization responses in neurons of the lower unit.

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