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network interactions
motion detection
insect
vision
electrophysiology
dendrite
intrinsic electrophysiological characteristics
plate tangential cells
motion sensitive interneurons
active membrane-properties
graded
potential neurons
superior temporal area
giant vertical cells
lobula
plate
horizontal cells
direction selectivity
Neurosciences & Neurology
Abstract:
Motion-sensitive large-field neurons found at higher processing stages in many species often exhibit a remarkable selectivity for particular flow fields. However, the underlying neural mechanisms are not yet understood. We studied this problem in the so-called lobula plate tangential cells (LPTCs) of the fly. Investigating the connectivity between LPTCs by means of dual recordings, we find two types of connections: (1) heterolateral connections between LPTCs of both hemispheres and (2) ipsilateral connections between LPTCs within one lobula plate. The circuit is suitable to amplify incoming, dendritic signals in the case of rotatory flow fields and to reduce them in the case of other flow-field structures. In addition to feedforward connectivity, thus, the flow-field selectivity of LPTCs may be significantly attributable to recurrent excitation involving the network of large-field neurons in both brain hemispheres.
