Motor Control of Flight Maneuvers

根据现存物种的数量，昆虫可以说是地球上最成功的动物群体，飞行能力是它们卓越的核心。尽管过去的研究在了解昆虫的基本空气动力学机制方面取得了很大进展，但我们对这些动物如何控制拍打翅膀的运动知之甚少，而这正是它们非凡敏捷性的基础。像苍蝇这样的昆虫在翅膀底部只有十几块很小的肌肉来控制翅膀的运动。该研究项目将使用遗传和光学技术相结合的方法，直接观察昆虫如何利用肌肉来调整翅膀的拍打模式。这些调查将有助于揭开这些非常成功的生物的最大谜团之一，并为设计和制造微型机械设备（如昆虫大小的飞行机器人）提供见解。此外，该项目的外展和培训工作将包括在学年期间支持本科生研究。该提案将重点关注果蝇（Drosophila melanogaster），它们能够快速空中机动，并且适用于许多记录和操纵肌肉和运动神经元的遗传方法。特别是，通过表达基因编码的光学钙传感器GCaMP，研究人员将直接观察动物在进行视觉诱导的飞行动作时整个转向肌肉系统的活动。结合电生理学和高速摄像技术，以高空间和时间分辨率研究不同动作中肌肉的功能作用。该项目还将使用光遗传试剂来激活完整动物的运动神经元，明确测试特定肌肉的作用。总的来说，这些方法将决定昆虫如何使用如此有限的一组肌肉进行飞行动作，并扩大我们对一群地球上最成功的生物所采用的运动控制一般原理的了解。这些研究的结果将通过在同行评议的期刊上发表和在科学会议上发表来传播。

Based on the number of extant species, insects are arguably the most successful group of animals on earth and the ability to fly is central to their eminence. Although past research has made great progress in understanding the basic aerodynamic mechanisms employed by insects, we know much less about how these animals control the motion of their flapping wings, which is the basis of their remarkable agility. Insects such as flies are endowed with only a dozen or so tiny muscles at the base of the wing with which to control wing motion. This research project will use a combination of genetic and optical techniques to directly observe how insects use their muscles to adjust the flapping pattern of their wings. The investigations will help uncover one of the greatest mysteries about these extraordinarily successful creatures and provide insight for the design and fabrication of miniature mechanical devices such as insect-sized flying robots. In addition, the outreach and training effort of the project will include support of undergraduate research during the academic year.This proposal will focus on fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster), which are capable of rapid aerial maneuvers and are amenable to many genetic approaches for recording and manipulating muscles and motor neurons. In particular, by expressing the genetically-encoded, optical calcium sensor GCaMP, the investigators will directly observe the activity of the entire steering muscle system while animals perform visually-elicited flight maneuvers. The functional role of muscles used for different maneuvers will be investigated with high spatial and temporal resolution by combining electrophysiology with high speed videography. The project will also explicitly test the role of specific muscles using optogenetic reagents to activate motor neurons in intact animals. Collectively, these approaches will determine how insects perform flight maneuvers using such a limited set of muscles and expand our knowledge of the general principles of motor control employed by a group of earth's most successful creatures. Results from the studies will be disseminated through publication in peer-reviewed journals and through presentations at scientific meetings.