A Model for an Angular Velocity-Tuned Motion Detector Accounting for Deviations in the Corridor-Centering Response of the Bee

We present a novel neurally based model for estimating angular velocity (AV) in the bee brain, capable of quantitatively reproducing experimental observations of visual odometry and corridor-centering in free-flying honeybees, including previously unaccounted for manipulations of behaviour. The mode...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PLoS computational biology 2016-05, Vol.12 (5), p.e1004887-e1004887
Main Authors: Cope, Alex J, Sabo, Chelsea, Gurney, Kevin, Vasilaki, Eleni, Marshall, James A R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Algorithms
Animal locomotion
Animals
Bees
Bees - physiology
Biology and Life Sciences
Brain - physiology
Computational Biology
Computer Simulation
Flight, Animal - physiology
Medicine and Health Sciences
Models, Neurological
Motion Perception - physiology
Observations
Physical Sciences
Physiological aspects
Social Sciences
User-Computer Interface
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Summary:We present a novel neurally based model for estimating angular velocity (AV) in the bee brain, capable of quantitatively reproducing experimental observations of visual odometry and corridor-centering in free-flying honeybees, including previously unaccounted for manipulations of behaviour. The model is fitted using electrophysiological data, and tested using behavioural data. Based on our model we suggest that the AV response can be considered as an evolutionary extension to the optomotor response. The detector is tested behaviourally in silico with the corridor-centering paradigm, where bees navigate down a corridor with gratings (square wave or sinusoidal) on the walls. When combined with an existing flight control algorithm the detector reproduces the invariance of the average flight path to the spatial frequency and contrast of the gratings, including deviations from perfect centering behaviour as found in the real bee's behaviour. In addition, the summed response of the detector to a unit distance movement along the corridor is constant for a large range of grating spatial frequencies, demonstrating that the detector can be used as a visual odometer.
ISSN:1553-7358
1553-734X
1553-7358
DOI:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004887