“That meant that the unusual activity was either an artefact, which was unlikely, or that it was coming from a non-visual source. After the possibility of interference was investigated and dismissed, I was sure: the neurons were faithfully tracking the animal’s steps,” says Eugenia Chiappe, a neuroscientist at the Champalimaud Foundation.
The Visuo-Motor Circuit
The bi-directional neural network connecting the legs and the visual system to shape walking (of the fly) operated simultaneously on two different timescales a fast timescale to monitor and correct each step and other promoting the animal’s behavioral goal.
The team also tracked the neurons’ charge or “mood” (which can be either positive or negative) along with the neurons’ participation in the movement using a powerful technique called whole-cell patch recording.
“When the foot (of the fly) was up in the air, the neuron was more positive, ready to send out adjustment directions to the motor region if needed. On the other hand, when the foot was on the ground, making adjustments impossible, the charge was more negative, effectively inhibiting the neuron”, said Chiappe.
The study thereby proves that although vision and action (movements) may seem unrelated, they are rather strongly associated than earlier thought, thereby setting a model to speculate similar mechanisms in other organisms.
Source: Medindia
For all the latest Health News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
Denial of responsibility! NewsBit.us is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.
