Combined patterns of activity of major neuronal classes underpin a global change in brain state during spontaneous and forced walk inDrosophila

Abstract

Movement and behavioral state influence perception, and a stimulus can elicit opposite behavioral actions depending on whether the animal is moving toward or away from it. Here, we use fast wholebrain lightfield imaging in adult Drosophila melanogaster to analyze the relationship between movement and neuronal activity. Using pan-neuronal calcium imaging, we observe brainwide neuronal activity that tightly correlated with spontaneous bouts of movement. Imaging of specific sets of neurons across the brain reveals that both excitatory and inhibitory as well as different types of neuromodulatory neurons are active during walk inconsistent with a reduction of inhibition on neuronal activity. While most neuron types are activated at walk-onset, serotonergic neurons show more complex patterns of activity with neurons in several brain regions being inhibited during walk. Using available anatomical data, we map forward running and turning-induced activity onto different brain subregions and sometimes individual neurons. Moreover, we find that spontaneous walk and forced walk elicit highly similar wholebrain activity suggesting that a large part of the observed activity corresponds to walk itself rather than its initiation by higher brain centers. Based on our data, we conclude that movement and movement-related sensory feedback signals originating in the ventral nerve cord induce wide-spread activity in the brain allowing the integration of behavioral state into most or all brain processes.

Selective integration of diverse taste inputs within a single taste modality

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A dopamine-gated learning circuit underpins reproductive state-dependent odor preference in Drosophila females

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3D atlas of cerebral neuropils with previously unknown demarcations in the honey bee brain

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“…Recent studies suggest that so far neglected neuropils in the cerebrum serve important functions in multisensory integration (Currier & Nagel, 2020). For example, whole brain imaging with novel microscopic techniques such as light field microscopy in behaving insects are beginning to elucidate the function of so far unknown neuropils in the central brain (e.g., Aimon et al, 2019Aimon et al, , 2022. However, the specific function and circuit architectures of cerebral neuropils, in many cases, still remain "terra incognita" (Ito et al, 2014).…”