title: Sensory determinants of behavioral dynamics in Drosophila thermotaxis.
abstract: Complex animal behaviors are built from dynamical relationships between sensory inputs, neuronal activity, and motor outputs in patterns with strategic value. Connecting these patterns illuminates how nervous systems compute behavior. Here, we study Drosophila larva navigation up temperature gradients toward preferred temperatures (positive thermotaxis). By tracking the movements of animals responding to fixed spatial temperature gradients or random temperature fluctuations, we calculate the sensitivity and dynamics of the conversion of thermosensory inputs into motor responses. We discover three thermosensory neurons in each dorsal organ ganglion (DOG) that are required for positive thermotaxis. Random optogenetic stimulation of the DOG thermosensory neurons evokes behavioral patterns that mimic the response to temperature variations. In vivo calcium and voltage imaging reveals that the DOG thermosensory neurons exhibit activity patterns with sensitivity and dynamics matched to the behavioral response. Temporal processing of temperature variations carried out by the DOG thermosensory neurons emerges in distinct motor responses during thermotaxis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138;
authors.forename: Mason
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138; Janelia Farm Research Campus, Ashburn, VA 20147;
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Afonso
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138;
authors.forename: Ashley J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Vonner
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138;
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hernandez-Nunez
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138;
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Berck
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138;
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Tabone
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138;
authors.forename: Elizabeth A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Kane
authors.affiliation: Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06511; The John B. Pierce Laboratory, Inc., New Haven, CT 06519;
authors.forename: Vincent A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Pieribone
authors.affiliation: Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06511; Department of Genetics and Program in Cellular Neuroscience, Neurodegeneration, and Repair, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520;
authors.forename: Michael N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Nitabach
authors.affiliation: Janelia Farm Research Campus, Ashburn, VA 20147;
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cardona
authors.affiliation: Janelia Farm Research Campus, Ashburn, VA 20147;
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zlatic
authors.affiliation: Janelia Farm Research Campus, Ashburn, VA 20147; Institute of Cell and Developmental Biology, Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland; and.
authors.forename: Simon G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Sprecher
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138;
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gershow
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02435.
authors.forename: Paul A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Garrity
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138; Janelia Farm Research Campus, Ashburn, VA 20147; samuel@physics.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Aravinthan D T
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Samuel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D020013:Calcium Signaling; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000502:physiology*; D005724:Ganglia / Q000502:physiology; D007814:Larva / Q000502:physiology; D008124:Locomotion / Q000502:physiology; D062308:Optogenetics; D013823:Thermoreceptors / Q000502:physiology*; D013697:Thermosensing / Q000502:physiology
keywords: calcium imaging; navigation; reverse correlation; temperature; voltage imaging