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First published online November 1, 2006
Journal of Experimental Biology 209, iii (2006)
Copyright © 2006 The Company of Biologists Limited
doi: 10.1242/jeb.02603
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Inside JEB

FLIES MAINTAIN A STRAIGHT FLIGHT PATH

Laura Blackburn

laura{at}biologists.com


Figure 1

How a fly avoids going into a tailspin while buzzing around intrigues Matthew Parsons and his colleagues at Cambridge University. They want to know how nerve cells in a fly's brain use information sent from its three one-lens eyes, called ocelli, and combine it with information from its pair of compound eyes to achieve this feat. A nerve cell in the fly's brain, known as V1, responds to light flickering on the compound eyes, but does the cell also respond to light flickering on the ocelli? To test this the team mimicked rotations of the fly's head by shining a pattern of flickering light on the ocelli, similar to what an airborne fly would see if it was rolling around. They recorded V1's response: the cell responded to clockwise rolls, but not to anticlockwise ones, and had a stronger response to brighter lights (p. 4464). V1 can respond to signals from compound eyes and ocelli, making it a key player in fly visual processing.

References

Parsons, M. M., Krapp, H. G. and Laughlin, S. B. (2006). A motion-sensitive neurone responds to signals from the two visual systems of the blowfly, the compound eyes and ocelli. J. Exp. Biol. 209,4464 -4474.[Abstract/Free Full Text]


Related articles in JEB:

A motion-sensitive neurone responds to signals from the two visual systems of the blowfly, the compound eyes and ocelli
Matthew M. Parsons, Holger G. Krapp, and Simon B. Laughlin
JEB 2006 209: 4464-4474. [Abstract] [Full Text]  




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