Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Navigation circuits: Calcium spikes know which way the wind blows.

Current biology : CB·2026
Same author

Octopamine instructs head direction plasticity.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2025
Same author

Octopamine enhances learning.

National science review·2024
Same author

Author Correction: Dopamine promotes head direction plasticity during orienting movements.

Nature·2023
Same author

Dopamine promotes head direction plasticity during orienting movements.

Nature·2022
Same author

SPARC enables genetic manipulation of precise proportions of cells.

Nature neuroscience·2020

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Oct 2, 2025

Retrograde Tracing of Drosophila Embryonic Motor Neurons Using Lipophilic Fluorescent Dyes
08:25

Retrograde Tracing of Drosophila Embryonic Motor Neurons Using Lipophilic Fluorescent Dyes

Published on: January 12, 2020

6.3K

Flexible navigational computations in the Drosophila central complex.

Yvette E Fisher1

  • 1University of California Berkeley, 131 Weill Hall, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.

Current Opinion in Neurobiology
|February 23, 2022
PubMed
Summary

Insects navigate using their central complex (CX), a brain structure. Recent studies reveal how CX circuits dynamically represent spatial information, integrating diverse sensory cues for flexible navigation.

More Related Videos

Morphological Analysis of Drosophila Larval Peripheral Sensory Neuron Dendrites and Axons Using Genetic Mosaics
09:42

Morphological Analysis of Drosophila Larval Peripheral Sensory Neuron Dendrites and Axons Using Genetic Mosaics

Published on: November 7, 2011

15.4K
Tracking Drosophila Larval Behavior in Response to Optogenetic Stimulation of Olfactory Neurons
06:49

Tracking Drosophila Larval Behavior in Response to Optogenetic Stimulation of Olfactory Neurons

Published on: March 21, 2018

7.4K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Oct 2, 2025

Retrograde Tracing of Drosophila Embryonic Motor Neurons Using Lipophilic Fluorescent Dyes
08:25

Retrograde Tracing of Drosophila Embryonic Motor Neurons Using Lipophilic Fluorescent Dyes

Published on: January 12, 2020

6.3K
Morphological Analysis of Drosophila Larval Peripheral Sensory Neuron Dendrites and Axons Using Genetic Mosaics
09:42

Morphological Analysis of Drosophila Larval Peripheral Sensory Neuron Dendrites and Axons Using Genetic Mosaics

Published on: November 7, 2011

15.4K
Tracking Drosophila Larval Behavior in Response to Optogenetic Stimulation of Olfactory Neurons
06:49

Tracking Drosophila Larval Behavior in Response to Optogenetic Stimulation of Olfactory Neurons

Published on: March 21, 2018

7.4K

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Animal Behavior
  • Computational Biology

Background:

  • Insects exhibit remarkable navigational capabilities, relying on complex brain mechanisms.
  • The central complex (CX), a midline brain structure, is hypothesized to be crucial for insect navigation.
  • Understanding the neural basis of insect navigation is key to deciphering spatial cognition.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To elucidate the neural circuit mechanisms underlying insect navigation.
  • To investigate how the central complex (CX) dynamically represents navigational variables.
  • To explore the integration of multimodal sensory inputs within the CX for spatial mapping.

Main Methods:

  • Utilizing advanced fruit fly neural circuit analysis.
  • Investigating distributed neuronal population computations.
  • Examining the role of synaptic plasticity and structured wiring in CX function.

Main Results:

  • Demonstrated dynamic representations of heading and travel direction within the CX.
  • Showcased how multimodal inputs shape these representations based on environmental context.
  • Revealed how CX circuits flexibly integrate sensory and motor cues for spatial map formation.

Conclusions:

  • The central complex (CX) plays a vital role in insect navigation through dynamic, distributed neural representations.
  • Insect navigation relies on flexible integration of sensory information, adapting to changing environments.
  • Future research should focus on the context-dependent use of various cues by insects for navigation.