Neural arithmetic of motion vision

Informacje na temat projektu

MOVIS

Identyfikator umowy o grant: 896143

DOI

10.3030/896143

Projekt został zamknięty

Data podpisania przez KE 23 Marca 2020

Data rozpoczęcia 1 Lipca 2021

Data zakończenia 30 Czerwca 2023

Finansowanie w ramach

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Koszt całkowity

€ 174 806,40

Wkład UE

€ 174 806,40

Koordynowany przez

MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER WISSENSCHAFTEN EV
Germany

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MOVIS (Neural arithmetic of motion vision)

Okres sprawozdawczy: 2021-07-01 do 2023-06-30

Podsumowanie kontekstu i ogólnych celów projektu

The brain is thought to derive much of its computational power from arithmetic operations carried out by individual nerve cells. The aim of the project ‘Neural arithmetic of motion vision’ — MOVIS is to understand how these arithmetic operations are implemented at the cellular and molecular level.
The visual system in the brain of the fruit fly houses nerve cells with remarkable abilities: These neurons compute the direction of visual motion based on information from adjacent light-sensitive cells of the eye. A formal model postulates that this would require the multiplication of two signals, but how a single nerve cell can perform a multiplication has been a puzzle for decades.

Prace wykonane od początku projektu do końca okresu sprawozdawczego oraz najważniejsze dotychczasowe rezultaty

Work performed over the course of the project describes how direction-selective neurons implement such a multiplicative mathematical operation. Experiments measuring the voltages across the surfaces of nerve cells in live flies revealed that the electrical activities of these cells are subject to constant inhibition. A brief release from this inhibitory signal, occurring only when visual stimuli move along one specific direction, amplifies the coincident excitatory signal from a neighbouring location. This amplification is formally equivalent to a multiplication. The nerve cell’s ability to multiply was linked to a receptor molecule on its surface. Animals lacking this receptor on direction-selective neurons failed to stay on course in a virtual reality. This illustrates the behavioural relevance of a specific computation in a clearly defined type of neuron.

Innowacyjność oraz oczekiwany potencjalny wpływ (w tym dotychczasowe znaczenie społeczno-gospodarcze i szersze implikacje społeczne projektu)

Similar neural computations are thought to underly our abilities to localize sounds, to navigate, or to focus our attention. The comparatively simple brain of the fruit fly offers an unparalleled opportunity to draw back the curtain on some of these seemingly intractable neuroscientific problems.

Orderly array of neurons in the visual system of the fruit fly.