Central neural coding of sky polarization in insects
Central neural coding of sky polarization in insects
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DOI：
10.1098/rstb.2010.0199
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发表时间：
2011-03-12
影响因子：
6.3
通讯作者：
El Jundi, Basil
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Homberg, Uwe;Heinze, Stanley;El Jundi, Basil
许多动物依靠太阳罗盘进行空间定位和远程导航。除了太阳之外，昆虫还利用天空的偏振模式和色度梯度来估计导航方向。对蝗虫和蟋蟀偏振视觉通路的分析首次揭示了涉及天空指南针方向的大脑区域。天空偏振的检测依赖于复眼背缘小区域中的专门感光细胞。参与偏振处理的大脑区域包括视叶的椎板、髓质和小叶的部分，以及中央大脑中的前视结节、外侧副叶和中央复合体。在视叶中，偏振敏感性和对比度通过会聚和对抗而增强。在前视神经结节中，偏振光信号与天空色彩对比度的信息相结合。结节神经元结合了对天空的紫外线/绿色对比度和电子矢量方向的响应，并补偿与太阳高度变化相关的天体偏振模式的昼夜变化。在中央复合体中，电子矢量调谐的地形表示位于柱状组织的基础上，表明该大脑区域充当空间方向的内部罗盘编码。
Many animals rely on a sun compass for spatial orientation and long-range navigation. In addition to the Sun, insects also exploit the polarization pattern and chromatic gradient of the sky for estimating navigational directions. Analysis of polarization-vision pathways in locusts and crickets has shed first light on brain areas involved in sky compass orientation. Detection of sky polarization relies on specialized photoreceptor cells in a small dorsal rim area of the compound eye. Brain areas involved in polarization processing include parts of the lamina, medulla and lobula of the optic lobe and, in the central brain, the anterior optic tubercle, the lateral accessory lobe and the central complex. In the optic lobe, polarization sensitivity and contrast are enhanced through convergence and opponency. In the anterior optic tubercle, polarized-light signals are integrated with information on the chromatic contrast of the sky. Tubercle neurons combine responses to the UV/green contrast and e-vector orientation of the sky and compensate for diurnal changes of the celestial polarization pattern associated with changes in solar elevation. In the central complex, a topographic representation of e-vector tunings underlies the columnar organization and suggests that this brain area serves as an internal compass coding for spatial directions.