A neural command circuit for grooming movement control.
Animals perform many stereotyped movements, but how nervous systems are organized for controlling specific movements remains unclear. Here we use anatomical, optogenetic, behavioral, and physiological techniques to identify a circuit in Drosophila melanogaster that can elicit stereotyped leg movements that groom the antennae. Mechanosensory chordotonal neurons detect displacements of the antennae and excite three different classes of functionally connected interneurons, which include two classes of brain interneurons and different parallel descending neurons. This multilayered circuit is organized such that neurons within each layer are sufficient to specifically elicit antennal grooming. However, we find differences in the durations of antennal grooming elicited by neurons in the different layers, suggesting that the circuit is organized to both command antennal grooming and control its duration. As similar features underlie stimulus-induced movements in other animals, we infer the possibility of a common circuit organization for movement control that can be dissected in Drosophila.
Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, United States.
Stefanie
S
Hampel
Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, United States.
Romain
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4440-7297
R
Franconville
Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, United States.|Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, United States.
Julie H
JH
Simpson
Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, United States.
Andrew M
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4932-6496
AM
Seeds
D000818:Animals; D057506:Arthropod Antennae; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000502:physiology*; D006120:Grooming; D007395:Interneurons / Q000502:physiology; D008465:Mechanoreceptors / Q000502:physiology; D009068:Movement; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology*
D. melanogaster; Johnston's Organ; command neurons; descending neuron; grooming movement; neural circuit; neuroscience; scratch reflex