Abstract

Please join us for our fortnightly journal club online via zoom where two presenters will jointly present a topic together. The next topic is ‘Uncovering the Drosophila connectome’ presented by Daniel Turner-Evans (UC Santa Cruz & Janelia) and Hannah Haberkern (Janelia).

Zoom information: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84958321096?pwd=dFpsYnpJYWVNeHlJbEFKbW1OTzFiQT09 Meeting ID: 849 5832 1096 Passcode: 506576

Summary: Recently, two fruit fly brains were imaged with electron microscopy down to the level of individual synapses. Automated techniques were then used to reconstruct the constituent neurons and to identify connections between them, providing a connectome of various brain regions. Crucially, these datasets contain the recurrent neural network structure of the entire fly navigation center, from sensory inputs all the way to motor outputs. A detailed analysis of this network identified circuit motifs that shape information as it flows through the network. These motifs likely 1) filter sensory inputs before using them to update a working memory of the fly’s head direction, 2) perform vector arithmetic to convert head direction to body direction 3) use the body direction signal to update working memories of desired goal locations, and 4) compare a goal location to the animal’s ongoing movements to drive behavior. Two of the study’s lead authors will discuss these motifs and other insights that emerged from analyzing the fly connectome.

Relevant reading:

Hulse, Haberkern, Franconville & Turner-Evans et al.: “A connectome of the Drosophila central complex reveals network motifs suitable for flexible navigation and context-dependent action selection”.

Scheffer et al.: “A Connectome of the Adult Drosophila Central Brain”.

Turner-Evans & Jayaraman: “The insect central complex”.