title: Neural mechanisms of insect navigation.
abstract: We know more about the ethology of insect navigation than the neural substrates. Few studies have shown direct effects of brain manipulation on navigational behaviour; or measure brain responses that clearly relate to the animal's current location or spatial target, independently of specific sensory cues. This is partly due to the methodological problems of obtaining neural data in a naturally behaving animal. However, substantial indirect evidence, such as comparative anatomy and knowledge of the neural circuits that provide relevant sensory inputs provide converging arguments for the role of some specific brain areas: the mushroom bodies; and the central complex. Finally, modelling can help bridge the gap by relating the computational requirements of a given navigational task to the type of computation offered by different brain areas.
authors.affiliation: School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, 10 Crichton St, Edinburgh EH8 9AB, UK. Electronic address: B.Webb@ed.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Webb
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Universite Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Antoine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wystrach
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D003463:Cues; D007313:Insecta / Q000502:physiology*; D024521:Mushroom Bodies / Q000502:physiology; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D065854:Spatial Navigation / Q000502:physiology*