A visual motion detection circuit suggested by Drosophila connectomics.
Animal behaviour arises from computations in neuronal circuits, but our understanding of these computations has been frustrated by the lack of detailed synaptic connection maps, or connectomes. For example, despite intensive investigations over half a century, the neuronal implementation of local motion detection in the insect visual system remains elusive. Here we develop a semi-automated pipeline using electron microscopy to reconstruct a connectome, containing 379 neurons and 8,637 chemical synaptic contacts, within the Drosophila optic medulla. By matching reconstructed neurons to examples from light microscopy, we assigned neurons to cell types and assembled a connectome of the repeating module of the medulla. Within this module, we identified cell types constituting a motion detection circuit, and showed that the connections onto individual motion-sensitive neurons in this circuit were consistent with their direction selectivity. Our results identify cellular targets for future functional investigations, and demonstrate that connectomes can provide key insights into neuronal computations.
Janelia Farm Research Campus, HHMI, Ashburn, Virginia 20147, USA.
Shin-ya
SY
Takemura
Arjun
A
Bharioke
Zhiyuan
Z
Lu
Aljoscha
A
Nern
Shiv
S
Vitaladevuni
Patricia K
PK
Rivlin
William T
WT
Katz
Donald J
DJ
Olbris
Stephen M
SM
Plaza
Philip
P
Winston
Ting
T
Zhao
Jane Anne
JA
Horne
Richard D
RD
Fetter
Satoko
S
Takemura
Katerina
K
Blazek
Lei-Ann
LA
Chang
Omotara
O
Ogundeyi
Mathew A
MA
Saunders
Victor
V
Shapiro
Christopher
C
Sigmund
Gerald M
GM
Rubin
Louis K
LK
Scheffer
Ian A
IA
Meinertzhagen
Dmitri B
DB
Chklovskii
D000818:Animals; D063132:Connectome; D004330:Drosophila / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D008954:Models, Biological; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*