Response properties of motion-sensitive visual interneurons in the lobula plate of Drosophila melanogaster

The crystalline-like structure of the optic lobes of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster has made them a model system for the study of neuronal cell-fate determination, axonal path finding, and target selection. For functional studies, however, the small size of the constituting visual interneurons has so far presented a formidable barrier. We have overcome this problem by establishing in vivo whole-cell recordings from genetically targeted visual interneurons of Drosophila. Here, we describe the response properties of six motion-sensitive large-field neurons in the lobula plate that form a network consisting of individually identifiable, directionally selective cells most sensitive to vertical image motion (VS cells). Individual VS cell responses to visual motion stimuli exhibit all the characteristics that are indicative of presynaptic input from elementary motion detectors of the correlation type. Different VS cells possess distinct receptive fields that are arranged sequentially along the eye's azimuth, corresponding to their characteristic cellular morphology and position within the retinotopically organized lobula plate. In addition, lateral connections between individual VS cells cause strongly overlapping receptive fields that are wider than expected from their dendritic input. Our results suggest that motion vision in different dipteran fly species is accomplished in similar circuitries and according to common algorithmic rules. The underlying neural mechanisms of population coding within the VS cell network and of elementary motion detection, respectively, can now be analyzed by the combination of electrophysiology and genetic intervention in Drosophila.