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Dragonfly target-detecting neurons adapt to stimulus saliency.

Matthew B Schwarz1, Bernard J E Evans1, David C O'Carroll2

  • 1School of Biomedicine, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia.

Vision Research
|October 30, 2025
PubMed
Summary

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Dragonfly neurons adapt to repeated visual targets, reducing responses. Higher contrast and preferred direction increase adaptation, while jittering reduces it, aiding prey detection.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Animal Behavior
  • Sensory Systems

Background:

  • Dragonfly visual systems possess neurons, small target motion detectors (STMDs), that detect moving targets amidst clutter.
  • These STMDs exhibit facilitation for continuous motion and selective attention for paired targets.
  • Rapidly repeated targets induce localized adaptation, decreasing STMD spiking activity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how dragonfly STMDs adapt their responses to varying target contrast, direction, and motion patterns.
  • To explore the interplay between facilitatory and suppressive adaptation mechanisms in STMDs.
  • To understand the ecological implications of STMD adaptation for dragonfly flight and prey capture.

Main Methods:

  • Extracellular electrophysiology was used to record STMD neuronal activity.
Keywords:
AdaptationContrast sensitivityDirection selectivityInsect visionNeuronal facilitationSelective attentionTarget detection

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  • Rapidly repeating targets with controlled contrast, direction, and jitter were presented.
  • Localized adaptation was induced to perturb facilitatory and selective pathways.

    • Main Results:

    • Higher target contrast and preferred direction of movement led to stronger adaptation.
    • The time course of adaptation remained consistent across different contrasts.
    • Jittering targets induced less adaptation, with adaptation decreasing as jitter radius increased.
    • Facilitation effects were observed to compete with suppressive adaptation.
    • STMDs showed reduced selective attention to targets moving through adapted visual locations.

    Conclusions:

    • Dragonfly STMDs exhibit adaptive responses influenced by target saliency and motion characteristics.
    • Adaptation mechanisms balance facilitation and suppression, optimizing target detection during flight.
    • These findings provide insights into the neural basis of visually guided behavior in dragonflies, crucial for hunting.