Neuroscience 2001 Abstract
| Presentation Number: | 405.1 |
|---|---|
| Abstract Title: | ACTIVE BINOCULAR VISION IN FLIES. |
| Authors: |
Franceschini, N. H.*1
; Chagneux, R. C.1
; Kirschfeld, K. R-.2
; M・ke, A. C.1
1Neurocybernetics Study Grp, CNRS Lab Neurobiol, Marseille Cedex 20, France 2Max-Planck Inst. für Biologische Kybernetik, Tübingen, Germany |
| Primary Theme and Topics |
Motor Systems - Oculomotor -- Head and eye movement |
| Secondary Theme and Topics | Sensory Systems<br />- Vision<br />-- Retina and photoreceptors |
| Session: |
405. Oculomotor: head and eye movements I Poster |
| Presentation Time: | Monday, November 12, 2001 1:00 PM-2:00 PM |
| Location: | Exhibit Hall MM-10 |
| Keywords: | Eye movement, Vision, Invertebrate, Insect |
Like other insects, flies control their gaze by moving their head, which bears the two compound eyes.
We show that in the blowfly Calliphora erythrocephala, two muscles called MOT and MOS can shift the photoreceptor array with respect to the fixed facet array, thereby orienting the line of sight of the receptors through two almost perpendicular planes. These extraocular muscles , which are driven at very high spike rates, can adjust the receptor axes superaccurately through several degrees. Simultaneous recordings obtained from the two opposite MOS or MOT showed that their spike rates usually vary in concert. In shifting the visual axes symmetrically on either side of the midsagittal plane, the muscles provide the animal with the ability to perform what amounts to disjunctive eye movements .
We propose that one function for this concealed dual-axis retinal micropositioner is to orient and stabilize the mosaic of visual axes in the frontal acute zones of the eyes for near range binocular vision. This hypothesis tallies with the existence of a binocular pathway which, in some male flies, projects the lobula binocular domain of one eye onto the equivalent contralateral region with a chiasma-like 180° twist (Strausfeld/ Gilbert/ Gronenberg, 1991).
The same oculomotor machinery is used for microscanning, a process whose benefits for optic flow detection, fixation and tracking have been demonstrated via the construction of biorobots equipped with a retinal microscanner (Mura and Franceschini, 1996; Viollet and Franceschini, 1999).
We show that in the blowfly Calliphora erythrocephala, two muscles called MOT and MOS can shift the photoreceptor array with respect to the fixed facet array, thereby orienting the line of sight of the receptors through two almost perpendicular planes. These extraocular muscles , which are driven at very high spike rates, can adjust the receptor axes superaccurately through several degrees. Simultaneous recordings obtained from the two opposite MOS or MOT showed that their spike rates usually vary in concert. In shifting the visual axes symmetrically on either side of the midsagittal plane, the muscles provide the animal with the ability to perform what amounts to disjunctive eye movements .
We propose that one function for this concealed dual-axis retinal micropositioner is to orient and stabilize the mosaic of visual axes in the frontal acute zones of the eyes for near range binocular vision. This hypothesis tallies with the existence of a binocular pathway which, in some male flies, projects the lobula binocular domain of one eye onto the equivalent contralateral region with a chiasma-like 180° twist (Strausfeld/ Gilbert/ Gronenberg, 1991).
The same oculomotor machinery is used for microscanning, a process whose benefits for optic flow detection, fixation and tracking have been demonstrated via the construction of biorobots equipped with a retinal microscanner (Mura and Franceschini, 1996; Viollet and Franceschini, 1999).
Supported by CNRS (SDV, SPI, and Microsystem Program), MPG and EEC (IST / FET)
Sample Citation:
[Authors]. [Abstract Title]. Program No. XXX.XX. 2001 Neuroscience Meeting Planner. San Diego, CA: Society for Neuroscience, 2001. Online.
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