Visuomotor Coordinate Transformation During Drosophila Chasing Behavior

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Abstract Sensorimotor integration often requires the brain to transform its representation of space between different coordinate systems. The mechanism of visuomotor coordinate transformation has been heavily investigated from a theoretical perspective and in the context of visually-guided arm, head, and eye movements in mammals. However, the underlying neural computations are still not well-understood. Coordinate transformations are also essential to visuomotor behavior in insects, and I am now uniquely positioned to address this question by leveraging the full brain connectome and genetic toolkit available in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Indeed, I have discovered a neural network in the Drosophila brain that appears well-positioned to perform such an inference. Therefore, I will use two-photon calcium imaging and whole cell recordings in walking flies to functionally and anatomically dissect the circuitry that underlies steering during object pursuit behavior. In doing so, this project will provide a mechanistic dissection of the control systems and coordinate transformations that guide visuomotor coupling.