Affiliation:
1. Neuroengineering Laboratory, Brain Mind Institute & Interfaculty Institute of Bioengineering, EPFL
Abstract
Deciphering how the brain regulates motor circuits to control complex behaviors is an important, long-standing challenge in neuroscience. In the fly, Drosophila melanogaster, this is coordinated by a population of ~ 1100 descending neurons (DNs). Activating only a few DNs is known to be sufficient to drive complex behaviors like walking and grooming. However, what additional role the larger population of DNs plays during natural behaviors remains largely unknown. For example, they may modulate core behavioral commands or comprise parallel pathways that are engaged depending on sensory context. We evaluated these possibilities by recording populations of nearly 100 DNs in individual tethered flies while they generated limb-dependent behaviors, including walking and grooming. We found that the largest fraction of recorded DNs encode walking while fewer are active during head grooming and resting. A large fraction of walk-encoding DNs encode turning and far fewer weakly encode speed. Although odor context does not determine which behavior-encoding DNs are recruited, a few DNs encode odors rather than behaviors. Lastly, we illustrate how one can identify individual neurons from DN population recordings by using their spatial, functional, and morphological properties. These results set the stage for a comprehensive, population-level understanding of how the brain’s descending signals regulate complex motor actions.
Funder
Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds
Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
Publisher
eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
Subject
General Immunology and Microbiology,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology,General Medicine,General Neuroscience
Cited by
13 articles.
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