Integration of parallel mechanosensory and visual pathways resolved through sensory conflict
Abstract
Animals rely on information drawn from a host of sensory systems to control their movement as they navigate in and interact with their environment. How the nervous system consolidates and processes these channels of information to govern locomotion is a challenging reverse engineering problem. To address this issue, we asked how a hawkmoth feeding from a moving flower combines visual and mechanical (force) cues to follow the flower motion. Using experimental and theoretical approaches, we discover that the brain performs a remarkably simple summation of information from visual and mechanosensory pathways. Moreover, we reveal that the moth could perform the behavior with either visual or mechanical information alone, and this redundancy provides a robust strategy for movement control.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Oct 24, 2016
- Source ID
- 10.1073/pnas.1522419113
Entities
People
- Eatai Roth
- Robert W. Hall
- Simon Sponberg
- Thomas L. Daniel
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Air Force Research Laboratory
- Georgia Tech
- University of Washington
- Washington Research Foundation