Organization of central circuits for wind-guided olfactory navigation

Abstract

AbstractTo navigate towards a food source, animals must frequently combine odor cues, that tell them what sources are useful, with spatial cues such as wind direction that tell them where the odor can be found. Previous studies have identified wind-direction inputs that provide spatial information to the Drosophila navigation center, but olfactory inputs to this structure have not been functionally characterized. Here we use a high-throughput behavioral screen to identify a pathway linking olfactory centers to a part of the navigation center called the fan-shaped body (FB). We show that neurons throughout this pathway promote upwind movement, but encode odor independent of wind direction. We identify a type of FB local neuron that receives input from both wind-encoding and odor-encoding pathways, integrates these cues, and drives turning behavior. Based on connectome data, we develop a computational model that shows how the architecture of the FB enables odor input to flexibly gate behavioral responses to wind direction. Our work supports a model in which spatial and non-spatial information enter the FB through anatomically distinct pathways, and are integrated in FB local neurons to promote context-appropriate navigation behaviors.