scholarly journals In silico Interrogation of Insect Central Complex Suggests Computational Roles for the Ellipsoid Body in Spatial Navigation

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincenzo G. Fiore ◽  
Benjamin Kottler ◽  
Xiaosi Gu ◽  
Frank Hirth
Keyword(s):  
In Silico ◽  
Spatial Navigation ◽  
Central Complex ◽  
Ellipsoid Body

scholarly journals Spatial Navigation and the Central Complex: Sensory Acquisition, Orientation, and Motor Control

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrienn G. Varga ◽  
Nicholas D. Kathman ◽  
Joshua P. Martin ◽  
Peiyuan Guo ◽  
Roy E. Ritzmann
Keyword(s):  
Motor Control ◽  
Spatial Navigation ◽  
Central Complex

scholarly journals A circadian output circuit controls sleep-wake arousal threshold in Drosophila

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fang Guo ◽  
Meghana Holla ◽  
Madelen M. Díaz ◽  
Michael Rosbash
Keyword(s):  
Brain Regions ◽  
Central Complex ◽  
Discrete Subset ◽  
Vision Navigation ◽  
Arousal Threshold ◽  
Ellipsoid Body ◽  
Wake Patterns ◽  
Circadian Pacemakers ◽  
Diurnal Sleep

SummaryThe Drosophila core circadian circuit contains distinct groups of interacting neurons that give rise to diurnal sleep-wake patterns. Previous work showed that a subset of Dorsal Neurons 1 (DN1s) are sleep-promoting through their inhibition of activity-promoting circadian pacemakers. Here we show that these anterior-projecting DNs (APDNs) also “exit” the circadian circuitry and communicate with the homeostatic sleep center in higher brain regions to regulate sleep and sleep-wake arousal threshold. These APDNs connect to a small discrete subset of tubercular-bulbar neurons, which are connected in turn to specific sleep-centric Ellipsoid Body (EB)-Ring neurons of the central complex. Remarkably, activation of the APDNs produces sleep-like oscillations in the EB and also raises the arousal threshold, which requires neurotransmission throughout the circuit. The data indicate that this APDN-TuBusup-EB circuit temporally regulates sleep-wake arousal threshold in addition to the previously defined role of the TuBu-EB circuit in vision, navigation and attention.

scholarly journals Immunocytochemical Mapping of an RDL-Like GABA Receptor Subunit and of GABA in Brain Structures Related to Learning and Memory in the Cricket Acheta domesticus

1998 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-89
Author(s):  
Colette Strambi ◽  
Myriam Cayre ◽  
David B. Sattelle ◽  
Roger Augier ◽  
Pierre Charpin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Learning And Memory ◽  
Gaba Receptors ◽  
Antennal Lobe ◽  
Gaba Receptor ◽  
Brain Structures ◽  
Acheta Domesticus ◽  
Central Complex ◽  
Mushroom Bodies ◽  
Insect Brain ◽  
Ellipsoid Body

The distribution of putative RDL-like GABA receptors and of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the brain of the adult house cricket Acheta domesticus was studied using specific antisera. Special attention was given to brain structures known to be related to learning and memory. The main immunostaining for the RDL-like GABA receptor was observed in mushroom bodies, in particular the upper part of mushroom body peduncle and the two arms of the posterior calyx. Weaker immunostaining was detected in the distal part of the peduncle and in the α and β lobes. The dorso- and ventrolateral protocerebrum neuropils appeared rich in RDL-like GABA receptors. Staining was also detected in the glomeruli of the antennal lobe, as well as in the ellipsoid body of the central complex. Many neurons clustered in groups exhibit GABA-like immunoreactivity. Tracts that were strongly immunostained innervated both the calyces and the lobes of mushroom bodies. The glomeruli of the antennal lobe, the ellipsoid body, as well as neuropils of the dorso- and ventrolateral protocerebrum were also rich in GABA-like immuno- reactivity. The data demonstrated a good correlation between the distribution of the GABA-like and of the RDL-like GABA receptor immunoreactivity. The prominent distribution of RDL-like GABA receptor subunits, in particular areas of mushroom bodies and antennal lobes, underlines the importance of inhibitory signals in information processing in these major integrative centers of the insect brain.

scholarly journals Neuronal constituents and putative interactions within the Drosophila ellipsoid body neuropil

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaison Jiro Omoto ◽  
Bao-Chau Minh Nguyen ◽  
Pratyush Kandimalla ◽  
Jennifer Kelly Lovick ◽  
Jeffrey Michael Donlea ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Information Flow ◽  
Cell Number ◽  
Higher Order ◽  
Central Complex ◽  
Innervation Pattern ◽  
Gal4 Driver ◽  
Ellipsoid Body ◽  
Cell Counts ◽  
Central Brain ◽  
Labeling Method

AbstractThe central complex (CX) is a midline-situated collection of neuropil compartments in the arthropod central brain, implicated in higher-order processes such as goal-directed navigation. Here, we provide a systematic genetic-neuroanatomical analysis of the ellipsoid body (EB), a compartment which represents a major afferent portal of the Drosophila CX. The neuropil volume of the EB, along with its prominent input compartment, called the bulb, is subdivided into precisely tessellated domains, distinguishable based on intensity of the global marker DN-cadherin. EB tangential elements (so-called ring neurons), most of which are derived from the DALv2 neuroblast lineage, interconnect the bulb and EB domains in a topographically-organized fashion. Using the DN-cadherin domains as a framework, we first characterized the bulb-EB connectivity by Gal4 driver lines expressed in different DALv2 ring neuron (R-neuron) subclasses. We identified 11 subclasses, 6 of which correspond to previously described projection patterns, and 5 novel patterns. These subclasses both spatially (based on EB innervation pattern) and numerically (cell counts) summate to the total EB volume and R-neuron cell number, suggesting that our compilation of R-neuron subclasses approaches completion. EB columnar elements, as well as non-DALv2 derived extrinsic ring neurons (ExR-neurons), were also incorporated into this anatomical framework. Finally, we addressed the connectivity between R-neurons and their targets, using the anterograde trans-synaptic labeling method, trans-Tango. This study demonstrates putative interactions of R-neuron subclasses and reveals general principles of information flow within the EB network. Our work will facilitate the generation and testing of hypotheses regarding circuit interactions within the EB and the rest of the CX.

scholarly journals The laminar organization of the Drosophila ellipsoid body is semaphorin-dependent and prevents the formation of ectopic synaptic connections

eLife ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaojun Xie ◽  
Masashi Tabuchi ◽  
Matthew P Brown ◽  
Sarah P Mitchell ◽  
Mark N Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Motor Coordination ◽  
Central Complex ◽  
Large Field ◽  
Gaba A ◽  
Ellipsoid Body ◽  
Axon Terminals ◽  
Electrophysiological Recordings ◽  
Drosophila Brain ◽  
Inhibitory Circuit ◽  
Neuron Function

The ellipsoid body (EB) in the Drosophila brain is a central complex (CX) substructure that harbors circumferentially laminated ring (R) neuron axons and mediates multifaceted sensory integration and motor coordination functions. However, what regulates R axon lamination and how lamination affects R neuron function remain unknown. We show here that the EB is sequentially innervated by small-field and large-field neurons and that early developing EB neurons play an important regulatory role in EB laminae formation. The transmembrane proteins semaphorin-1a (Sema-1a) and plexin A function together to regulate R axon lamination. R neurons recruit both GABA and GABA-A receptors to their axon terminals in the EB, and optogenetic stimulation coupled with electrophysiological recordings show that Sema-1a-dependent R axon lamination is required for preventing the spread of synaptic inhibition between adjacent EB lamina. These results provide direct evidence that EB lamination is critical for local pre-synaptic inhibitory circuit organization.

Genetic analysis of theDrosophila ellipsoid body neuropil: Organization and development of the central complex

1999 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan C. P. Renn ◽  
J. Douglas Armstrong ◽  
Mingyao Yang ◽  
Zongsheng Wang ◽  
Xin An ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Analysis ◽  
Central Complex ◽  
Ellipsoid Body

scholarly journals Thermoresponsive motor behavior is mediated by ring neuron circuits in the central complex of Drosophila

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Edgar Buhl ◽  
Benjamin Kottler ◽  
James J. L. Hodge ◽  
Frank Hirth
Keyword(s):  
Neural Activity ◽  
Motor Behavior ◽  
Calcium Influx ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Central Complex ◽  
Temperature Sensitive ◽  
External Temperature ◽  
Ellipsoid Body ◽  
Survival And Reproduction ◽  
Transsynaptic Tracing

AbstractInsects are ectothermal animals that are constrained in their survival and reproduction by external temperature fluctuations which require either active avoidance of or movement towards a given heat source. In Drosophila, different thermoreceptors and neurons have been identified that mediate temperature sensation to maintain the animal’s thermal preference. However, less is known how thermosensory information is integrated to gate thermoresponsive motor behavior. Here we use transsynaptic tracing together with calcium imaging, electrophysiology and thermogenetic manipulations in freely moving Drosophila exposed to elevated temperature and identify different functions of ellipsoid body ring neurons, R1-R4, in thermoresponsive motor behavior. Our results show that warming of the external surroundings elicits calcium influx specifically in R2-R4 but not in R1, which evokes threshold-dependent neural activity in the outer layer ring neurons. In contrast to R2, R3 and R4d neurons, thermogenetic inactivation of R4m and R1 neurons expressing the temperature-sensitive mutant allele of dynamin, shibireTS, results in impaired thermoresponsive motor behavior at elevated 31 °C. trans-Tango mediated transsynaptic tracing together with physiological and behavioral analyses indicate that integrated sensory information of warming is registered by neural activity of R4m as input layer of the ellipsoid body ring neuropil and relayed on to R1 output neurons that gate an adaptive motor response. Together these findings imply that segregated activities of central complex ring neurons mediate sensory-motor transformation of external temperature changes and gate thermoresponsive motor behavior in Drosophila.

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