title: The Function and Organization of the Motor System Controlling Flight Maneuvers in Flies.
abstract: Animals face the daunting task of controlling their limbs using a small set of highly constrained actuators. This problem is particularly demanding for insects such as Drosophila, which must adjust wing motion for both quick voluntary maneuvers and slow compensatory reflexes using only a dozen pairs of muscles. To identify strategies by which animals execute precise actions using sparse motor networks, we imaged the activity of a complete ensemble of wing control muscles in intact, flying flies. Our experiments uncovered a remarkably efficient logic in which each of the four skeletal elements at the base of the wing are equipped with both large phasically active muscles capable of executing large changes and smaller tonically active muscles specialized for continuous fine-scaled adjustments. Based on the responses to a broad panel of visual motion stimuli, we have developed a model by which the motor array regulates aerodynamically functional features of wing motion. VIDEO ABSTRACT.
authors.affiliation: Division of Biology and Bioengineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
authors.forename: Theodore
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lindsay
authors.affiliation: Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sustar
authors.affiliation: Division of Biology and Bioengineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA. Electronic address: flyman@caltech.edu.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dickinson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D004330:Drosophila / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005426:Flight, Animal; D009038:Motion; D009132:Muscles / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D014921:Wings, Animal / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D002118:Calcium
keywords: Drosophila; flight; in vivo calcium imaging; motor control; muscles; sparse networks