What can larval insects see? Development of locust collision warning neurons.
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1
Newcastle University, Institute of Neuroscience, United Kingdom
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2
Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Insect larvae clearly react to visual stimuli, but the ability of any visual neuron in a newly hatched insect to respond selectively to particular stimuli has not been directly tested. We characterised a pair of neurons in locust larvae that have been extensively studied in adults, where they are known to respond selectively to objects approaching on a collision course: the lobula giant motion detector (LGMD); and its postsynaptic partner, the descending contralateral motion detector (DCMD). Our physiological recordings of DCMD axon spikes reveal that at the time of hatching the neurons already respond selectively to objects approaching the locust and they discriminate between different stimulus approach speeds with differences in spike frequency. For a particular approaching stimulus, both the number and peak frequency of spikes increase with instar. In contrast, the number of spikes in responses to receding stimuli decreases with instar, so performance in discriminating approaching from receding stimuli improves as the locust goes through successive moults. In all instars, visual movement over one part of the visual field suppresses a response to movement over another part. Electron microscopy demonstrates that the anatomical substrate for the selective response to approaching stimuli is present in all larval instars: small neuronal processes carrying information from the eye make synapses both onto LGMD dendrites and with each other, providing pathways for lateral inhibition that shapes selectivity for approaching objects.
Keywords:
Vision,
looming,
insect,
Larva,
synapse,
development
Conference:
International Conference on Invertebrate Vision, Fjälkinge, Sweden, 1 Aug - 8 Aug, 2013.
Presentation Type:
Oral presentation preferred
Topic:
Motion vision
Citation:
Simmons
PJ,
Julieta Sztarker
J and
Rind
C
(2019). What can larval insects see? Development of locust collision warning neurons..
Front. Physiol.
Conference Abstract:
International Conference on Invertebrate Vision.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fphys.2013.25.00092
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Received:
14 Feb 2013;
Published Online:
09 Dec 2019.
*
Correspondence:
Dr. Peter J Simmons, Newcastle University, Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, United Kingdom, p.j.simmons@ncl.ac.uk