Elementary sensory-motor transformations underlying olfactory navigation in walking fruit-flies.

TitleElementary sensory-motor transformations underlying olfactory navigation in walking fruit-flies.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2018
AuthorsÁlvarez-Salvado E, Licata AM, Connor EG, McHugh MK, King BMn, Stavropoulos N, Victor JD, Crimaldi JP, Nagel KI
JournalElife
Volume7
Date Published2018 Aug 21
ISSN2050-084X
Abstract

Odor attraction in walking is commonly used to relate neural function to behavior, but the algorithms underlying attraction are unclear. Here, we develop a high-throughput assay to measure olfactory behavior in response to well-controlled sensory stimuli. We show that odor evokes two behaviors: an upwind run during odor (ON response), and a local search at odor offset (OFF response). Wind orientation requires antennal mechanoreceptors, but search is driven solely by odor. Using dynamic odor stimuli, we measure the dependence of these two behaviors on odor intensity and history. Based on these data, we develop a navigation model that recapitulates the behavior of flies in our apparatus, and generates realistic trajectories when run in a turbulent boundary layer plume. The ability to parse olfactory navigation into quantifiable elementary sensori-motor transformations provides a foundation for dissecting neural circuits that govern olfactory behavior.

DOI10.7554/eLife.37815
Alternate JournalElife
PubMed ID30129438
PubMed Central IDPMC6103744
Grant ListNARSAD Young Investigator Award / / Brain and Behavior Research Foundation /
R01 MH109690 / MH / NIMH NIH HHS / United States
2013-05-78 / / Whitehall Foundation /
Klingenstein-Simons Fellowship / / Esther A. and Joseph Klingenstein Fund /
Career Scientist Award / / Irma T. Hirschl Trust /
Whitehead Fellowship / / New York University /
Leon Levy Fellowship / / Leon Levy Foundation /
R00 DC012065 / DC / NIDCD NIH HHS / United States
Mathers Award / / G Harold and Leila Y. Mathers Foundation /
J. Christian Gillin, M.D. Research Award / / Sleep Research Society /
PHY-155586 / / National Science Foundation /
Sloan Foundation Fellowship / / Alfred P. Sloan Foundation /
PHY-1555933 / / National Science Foundation /
IOS-1555933 / / National Science Foundation /
R00DC012065,R01MH109690 / / National Institutes of Health /
McKnight Scholar Award / / McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience /