Periodic Reporting for period 1 - FlyLearn (Understanding how self-movement representations shape motor learning)
Reporting period: 2020-06-01 to 2022-05-31
Learning how movements displace an animal in space is vital for survival. The relationship between locomotor commands in the brain and their consequences are subject to frequent changes both in bodily properties such as during injury or muscle fatigue, and environmental properties like terrain firmness.
As animals move through space, they create optic flow (OF) fields and have sophisticated neural systems to detect them. It is thought that to estimate the casual relationship between movements and their consequences all animals, including humans, have internal movement representations and compare them to outcome. How these movement representations are updated to sensory stimuli, such as optic flow, is not understood for any animal species. Understanding how animals adapt their movements to sensory feedback is essential for any complete theory of how behavior is generated.
The fly’s visual system has neurons (HS cells) that respond both to optic flow and to the movements that a fly does when walking. Also, serotonergic neurons located in the posterior medial protocerebral (PMPV) cluster were shown to reduce walking in flies.
The aim of this project is to test the hypothesis that the visual-motor signals generated by HS cells are used to calibrate movements to visual flow and that this calibration is performed by the action of serotonergic neurons in the PMPV cluster.
Linking HS neural activity to motor learning would provide an explanation why these self-movement representations exist in the brain and inspire new motor learning theories, that could be of great use in robotics. Also, serotonin is the most important pharmacological target for anxiety and depression. Therefore, any understanding on its function may help to design more effective therapies for these diseases. Furthermore, implicating serotonin in motor learning may uncover new uses for serotonin-based drugs in people with learning disabilities. Finally, this project involves creating a computational framework to track the movements that an animal does, that could be adapted to other animal species and to tackle other scientific questions.
As animals move through space, they create optic flow (OF) fields and have sophisticated neural systems to detect them. It is thought that to estimate the casual relationship between movements and their consequences all animals, including humans, have internal movement representations and compare them to outcome. How these movement representations are updated to sensory stimuli, such as optic flow, is not understood for any animal species. Understanding how animals adapt their movements to sensory feedback is essential for any complete theory of how behavior is generated.
The fly’s visual system has neurons (HS cells) that respond both to optic flow and to the movements that a fly does when walking. Also, serotonergic neurons located in the posterior medial protocerebral (PMPV) cluster were shown to reduce walking in flies.
The aim of this project is to test the hypothesis that the visual-motor signals generated by HS cells are used to calibrate movements to visual flow and that this calibration is performed by the action of serotonergic neurons in the PMPV cluster.
Linking HS neural activity to motor learning would provide an explanation why these self-movement representations exist in the brain and inspire new motor learning theories, that could be of great use in robotics. Also, serotonin is the most important pharmacological target for anxiety and depression. Therefore, any understanding on its function may help to design more effective therapies for these diseases. Furthermore, implicating serotonin in motor learning may uncover new uses for serotonin-based drugs in people with learning disabilities. Finally, this project involves creating a computational framework to track the movements that an animal does, that could be adapted to other animal species and to tackle other scientific questions.
Through the FlyLearn project we confirmed that fruit flies have the ability to perform motor adaption during walking. However, motor adaptation does not seem to depend on the activity of the HS or PMPV neurons. This constitutes an advance on our understanding on how flies perform motor adaption.
Measures to disseminate project results
Dissemination of the project was achieved by presenting the projects results at the Champalimaud internal seminar, attending two international conferences (2021 Champalimuad Symposium, 2022 FENS), and publishing our findings.
Measures to exploit the project results
The FlyLearn created three follow up projects. One where we applied the behavioral framework to zebrafish larvae social behavior. This follow up project enabled the discovery when these animals are raised in isolation they avoid each other more, by performing fast escapes and it resulted in a publication. The other two follow up projects consisted in studying the neural mechanisms that underlay escape behavior and the generation of types of movements and have recently obtained funding from international agencies.
Measures to communicate the project activities to different target audiences
The Flylearn project was communicated to the general public through an interview to the newspaper “Observador” and by the participation in the podcast “Mentes brilhantes”.
Also, the behavioral framework created for FlyLearn was used in the outreach project, “HAC de Aprendizagem Científica”, a pilot project developed at Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon, that aims to develop the creativity and critical thinking of high school students by encouraging them to create a scientific project of their choice.
Measures to disseminate project results
Dissemination of the project was achieved by presenting the projects results at the Champalimaud internal seminar, attending two international conferences (2021 Champalimuad Symposium, 2022 FENS), and publishing our findings.
Measures to exploit the project results
The FlyLearn created three follow up projects. One where we applied the behavioral framework to zebrafish larvae social behavior. This follow up project enabled the discovery when these animals are raised in isolation they avoid each other more, by performing fast escapes and it resulted in a publication. The other two follow up projects consisted in studying the neural mechanisms that underlay escape behavior and the generation of types of movements and have recently obtained funding from international agencies.
Measures to communicate the project activities to different target audiences
The Flylearn project was communicated to the general public through an interview to the newspaper “Observador” and by the participation in the podcast “Mentes brilhantes”.
Also, the behavioral framework created for FlyLearn was used in the outreach project, “HAC de Aprendizagem Científica”, a pilot project developed at Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon, that aims to develop the creativity and critical thinking of high school students by encouraging them to create a scientific project of their choice.
The FlyLearn project enabled the discovery that flies perform motor adaption while walking. This constitutes an advance on our understanding on how flies perform motor adaption. Also, the technology developed may be used to study other animal species or tackle other scientific questions.
It also enabled the discovery that zebrafish larvae, when raised in isolation, avoid each other more by sensing other fish through the lateral line and performing fast escapes. This finding resulted in a publication in Current Biology. This discovery is an advance in the understanding how changes in the environment at an early age can shape social behavior.
It also enabled the discovery that zebrafish larvae, when raised in isolation, avoid each other more by sensing other fish through the lateral line and performing fast escapes. This finding resulted in a publication in Current Biology. This discovery is an advance in the understanding how changes in the environment at an early age can shape social behavior.