A neural strategy for directional behaviour

Abstract

Eyes are essential for revealing details that would otherwise stay hidden — even quiet or odourless objects cannot usually avoid interacting with light. The brain then uses this information to identify where an object is and decide whether it is desirable or repellent, ultimately transforming the visual patterns into the muscle activations that define a behavioural response. Topographic representations of visual space in the brain have been well documented in various species1,2, but it remains uncertain how neural circuitry converts object locations into directional behaviour. Writing in Nature, Dombrovski and colleagues3 describe a pattern of neural connectivity that accounts for some such transformations, allowing fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) to escape looming visual threats. This might be a common mechanism for turning sensory input into appropriate motor actions...