'Flight simulator' for flies sheds light on visual processing
Monday, August 24, 2009
Despite its tiny limited brain, a blowfly performs difficult aerial maneuvers with speed and precision with the help of eyes that can perceive 100 images per second as discrete sense impressions, compared to about a maximum of 25 for human eyes.
Specific flight patterns are simulated by controlling optical "flux fields" presented to the fly. Credit: Max-Planck Institute for Neurobiology
How these flies can process optical stimuli fast enough to suddenly change direction, stand still in the air, and make precise, pinpoint landings, is a subject that has baffled a group of scientists at the Cognition for Technical Systems or CoTeSys in Munich, Germany. To find an answer, they’ve created a “flight simulator” to investigate what goes on in the brains of flies while they’re flying.
By tethering and studying these insects as they experience virtual scenarios presented to them on a small wraparound screen, the researchers aim to put similar capabilities in human hands.
The simulator works by presenting diverse patterns, movements, and sensory stimuli to a blowfly held in place by a halter. The fly has implanted electrodes that register the reactions of its brain cells as it whizzes around virtual objects. The researchers observe and analyze the data using a fluorescent microscope.
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