Article
Biology
Mary K. Salcedo, Brian H. Jun, John J. Socha, Naomi E. Pierce, Pavlos P. Vlachos, Stacey A. Combes
Summary: Research shows that the circulation system, respiration system, and nervous system of insects extend into their wings, playing a critical role in supplying nutrients and maintaining wing function. High-speed fluorescent microscopy and particle tracking reveals dynamic flow patterns in every vein of grasshopper wings, with three different flow behaviors: pulsatile, aperiodic, and leaky. Study of the wing circulatory system provides valuable insights into the hemodynamics necessary for sustaining wing health and insect flight.
COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biology
Tu Anh Thi Nguyen, M. Jerome Beetz, Christine Merlin, Basil el Jundi
Summary: Monarch butterflies migrate from North America to Central Mexico every autumn, relying on celestial cues for orientation. The central complex in their brain helps guide them, with migratory butterflies showing narrower encoding of the sun compared to non-migratory butterflies. This suggests that migratory monarchs need a precise sun compass to keep their direction during their journey.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yiting Tao, Michael Lucas, Asanka Perera, Samuel Teague, Eric Warrant, Javaan Chahl
Summary: In this study, we examined the feasibility of utilizing the Milky Way for maintaining heading in machine vision systems on autonomous vehicles. By measuring its visual features and characteristics, and considering the conditions and sensory systems used by insects, we demonstrated that computer vision methods can accurately extract the Milky Way's orientation. However, higher levels of light pollution can negatively impact navigation systems relying on the Milky Way.
APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL
(2023)
Article
Biology
Marcel Ethan Sayre, Rachel Templin, Johanna Chavez, Julian Kempenaers, Stanley Heinze
Summary: While bees and fruit flies share similarities in their central complex, there are also key functional differences that may impact their navigational abilities.
Article
Biology
Richard Massy, Will L. S. Hawkes, Toby Doyle, Jolyon Troscianko, Myles H. M. Menz, Nicholas W. Roberts, Jason W. Chapman, Karl R. Wotton
Summary: The study found that hoverflies use a time-compensated sun compass as their primary navigational mechanism during migration, and they tend to fly south and adjust their orientation under clear and sunny conditions.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Aerospace
Yueting Yang, Yan Wang, Lei Guo, Bo Tian, Jian Yang, Wenshuo Li, Taihang Chen
Summary: This study demonstrates that nocturnal polarized light is capable of providing accurate and stable navigation information in dim light outdoor environment, and proposes a probability density estimation method for heading determination.
CHINESE JOURNAL OF AERONAUTICS
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Uwe Homberg, Michelle Kirchner, Kevin Kowalewski, Vanessa Pitz, Michiyo Kinoshita, Martina Kern, Jutta Seyfarth
Summary: Serotonin functions as a neuromodulator in both vertebrate and invertebrate nervous systems. In insects, it affects feeding, olfactory sensitivity, aggressive behavior, and sleep homeostasis in the central complex. This study analyzed the distribution and identity of serotonin-immunoreactive neurons in various insect species, revealing taxon-specific differences in their targets and indicating distinct evolutionary changes in the composition of these neurons in the central complex.
JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE NEUROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Josephine Timm, Mara Scherner, Jannik Matschke, Martina Kern, Uwe Homberg
Summary: Dopamine plays a crucial role in regulating physiological processes in the insect nervous system. Specific dopaminergic neurons are located in the central complex, which is involved in various functions such as sky compass navigation and sleep control. The distribution of neurons immunoreactive to tyrosine hydroxylase showed a high degree of conservation across different insect orders, with species-specific variations observed in cell number and innervated areas.
JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE NEUROLOGY
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Ronja Hensgen, Stefan Dippel, Sophie Hummert, Stefanie Jahn, Jutta Seyfarth, Uwe Homberg
Summary: The central complex in the brain of insects is crucial for spatial navigation, locomotion, and sleep control. A study on the locust central complex identified multiple systems of neurons expressing myoinhibitory peptides (MIPs), which play a role in circadian control and sleep-wake regulation. This research provides new insights into the architecture of the locust central complex and highlights the prominent role of MIPs in its network.
JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE NEUROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biology
Brad K. Hulse, Hannah Haberkern, Romain Franconville, Daniel Turner-Evans, Shin-ya Takemura, Tanya Wolff, Marcella Noorman, Marisa Dreher, Chuntao Dan, Ruchi Parekh, Ann M. Hermundstad, Gerald M. Rubin, Vivek Jayaraman
Summary: This study provides the first comprehensive connectome of the Drosophila central complex, identifying new neuron types, sensory and motor pathways, and network motifs involved in navigation computations. Additionally, it uncovers pathways that may facilitate the selection of behavioral patterns driven by the central complex.
Article
Biology
Xuelong Sun, Shigang Yue, Michael Mangan
Summary: The research assessed the function of the central complex in insect navigation, identifying a biologically plausible neural transfer mechanism that helps insects to robustly recover and adapt to different environmental disturbances. Additionally, it was proposed that these circuits can be flexibly repurposed by different insect navigators to address their unique ecological needs.
Article
Neurosciences
Stefanie Jahn, Vanessa Althaus, Jannik Heckmann, Mona Janning, Ann-Katrin Seip, Naomi Takahashi, Clara Grigoriev, Juliana Kolano, Uwe Homberg
Summary: Insects have remarkable navigation abilities, and the navigation center in the insect brain, called the central complex (CX), controls spatial orientation and directed locomotion. This study focused on the cockroach CX and found unique organization and attributes, possibly related to the ecological niche of this nocturnal insect.
JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE NEUROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biology
Alexander Pakhomov, Anisia Prokshina, Fedor Cellarius, Henrik Mouritsen, Nikita Chernetsov
Summary: In this study, cue-conflict experiments were conducted on three European songbird species to investigate their calibration strategies in compass systems. The results showed that only adult robins displayed signs of calibration, while the other species did not, even when they had access to celestial cues. Based on these findings, it is suggested that there is no uniform theory to explain birds' calibration strategies and it may vary among species or populations.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biology
Naomi Takahashi, Frederick Zittrell, Ronja Hensgen, Uwe Homberg
Summary: Successful navigation relies on an animal's ability to perceive its spatial orientation relative to visual surroundings. In insects, heading direction is represented in the central complex (CX), a navigation center in the brain. The CX neurons are tuned to celestial cues indicating the sun's location. This study investigated whether tuning to the two compass cues, unpolarized sunlight and polarized light, emerges within the CX network or is inherited from input neurons. The results suggest that considerable refinement of azimuth coding based on sky compass signals occurs at the synapses from input neurons to CX compass neurons.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Ronja Hensgen, Laura England, Uwe Homberg, Keram Pfeiffer
Summary: This study identified neuronal cell types of the CX in the honeybee by tracing neurons that connect different regions of the bee's central brain, showing extensive connections between the CX and other brain regions. The morphologically characterized neurons in the honeybee are similar to those found in other insects, indicating conservation in the neural network relevant for orientation.
JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE NEUROLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biology
Christine Martin, Henry Jahn, Mercedes Klein, Jorg U. Hammel, Paul A. Stevenson, Uwe Homberg, Georg Mayer
Summary: By combining multiple research methods, the study provides a detailed investigation of the onychophoran brain structure, generates a consistent glossary, and improves the reproducibility of neuroanatomical observations.
Article
Neurosciences
Azar Massah, Susanne Neupert, Susanne Brodesser, Uwe Homberg, Monika Stengl
Summary: The study revealed the significant role of GABA in promoting sleep in the Madeira cockroach's brain clock network, controlling the sleep-wake cycle through regulating light entrainment and clock output to different brain regions.
JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE NEUROLOGY
(2022)
Editorial Material
Behavioral Sciences
Gunther K. H. Zupanc, Kentaro Arikawa, Charlotte Helfrich-Forster, Uwe Homberg, Peter M. Narins, Wolfgang Rossler, Andrea Megela Simmons, Eric J. Warrant
Summary: This article introduces the winners of the 2022 Editors' Choice Award and Readers' Choice Award in the Journal of Comparative Physiology A, as well as the categories and content of the awarded papers. The Editors' Choice Award winners were selected by the Editorial Board based on highly recommended papers in Volume 207 in 2021, while the Readers' Choice Award winners were determined by access numbers of articles in Volume 206 in 2020.
JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY A-NEUROETHOLOGY SENSORY NEURAL AND BEHAVIORAL PHYSIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Ronja Hensgen, Frederick Zittrell, Keram Pfeiffer, Uwe Homberg
Summary: The polarization pattern of the sky is used by insects for spatial orientation and navigation. This pattern is influenced by Rayleigh scattering and the position of the sun. In the insect brain, neurons in the central complex (CX) are tuned to the angle of polarization (AoP), forming an internal compass for celestial navigation. The neurons in the CX can reliably encode the AoP even in unfavorable sky conditions with low degrees of polarization (DoP).
JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY A-NEUROETHOLOGY SENSORY NEURAL AND BEHAVIORAL PHYSIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Ronja Hensgen, Stefan Dippel, Sophie Hummert, Stefanie Jahn, Jutta Seyfarth, Uwe Homberg
Summary: The central complex in the brain of insects is crucial for spatial navigation, locomotion, and sleep control. A study on the locust central complex identified multiple systems of neurons expressing myoinhibitory peptides (MIPs), which play a role in circadian control and sleep-wake regulation. This research provides new insights into the architecture of the locust central complex and highlights the prominent role of MIPs in its network.
JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE NEUROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Vanessa Althaus, Stefanie Jahn, Azar Massah, Monika Stengl, Uwe Homberg
Summary: The Madeira cockroach is a nocturnal insect that is commonly used to study circadian rhythms. Researchers have created a three-dimensional reconstruction of its brain to better understand the brain areas controlled by the circadian clock. They found differences between the cockroach and fruit fly brain, which will be valuable for evolutionary comparisons of insect brain organization and circadian rhythm research.
JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE NEUROLOGY
(2022)
Editorial Material
Behavioral Sciences
Gunther K. H. Zupanc, Wolfgang Roessler, Eric J. J. Warrant, Uwe Homberg, Kentaro Arikawa, Charlotte Helfrich-Foerster, Peter M. M. Narins, Andrea Megela Simmons
Summary: The Journal of Comparative Physiology A, which has a history of 99 years, has published influential papers in comparative physiology and related disciplines. The winners of the 2023 Editors' Choice Awards include papers on contact chemoreception in prey sensing by octopus and magnetic maps in animal navigation. The winners of the 2023 Readers' Choice Awards include papers on thermal homeostasis of honeybee colonies and a historical letter on Einstein and the honeybee by von Frisch.
JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY A-NEUROETHOLOGY SENSORY NEURAL AND BEHAVIORAL PHYSIOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Behavioral Sciences
Uwe Homberg, Ronja Hensgen, Stefanie Jahn, Uta Pegel, Naomi Takahashi, Frederick Zittrell, Keram Pfeiffer
Summary: Many arthropods and vertebrates use celestial signals for spatial orientation. The brain's neural network for sky compass coding has been extensively studied in the desert locust Schistocerca gregaria, which migrates following rainfall changes. Specialized photoreceptors in their compound eyes detect the polarization of the sky, which combines with direct sun position information to code for head direction. These signals are transmitted to descending neurons for controlling locomotion and flight.
JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY A-NEUROETHOLOGY SENSORY NEURAL AND BEHAVIORAL PHYSIOLOGY
(2023)
Editorial Material
Behavioral Sciences
Uwe Homberg, Keram Pfeiffer
Summary: This article introduces the research on the neural basis of spatial orientation in arthropods, especially insects, and presents a collection of eight review articles and eight original research articles discussing hotspots of research on spatial orientation in various arthropods and the neural circuits involved. These contributions illustrate the wide range of tools arthropods use to master complex navigational challenges, including specific sensory channels and highly sophisticated neural computations.
JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY A-NEUROETHOLOGY SENSORY NEURAL AND BEHAVIORAL PHYSIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Marius Beck, Vanessa Althaus, Uta Pegel, Uwe Homberg
Summary: Insects can sense the oscillation plane of polarized light and use it for navigation and visibility enhancement. The peripheral and central mechanisms of sensing the polarization angle of light reflected from objects and surfaces are not well understood. This study investigated the sensitivity of locust brain interneurons to the angle of polarized blue light presented from ventral direction.
JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY A-NEUROETHOLOGY SENSORY NEURAL AND BEHAVIORAL PHYSIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Frederick Zittrell, Kathrin Pabst, Elena Carlomagno, Ronny Rosner, Uta Pegel, Dominik M. Endres, Uwe Homberg
Summary: Flexible orientation in any environment requires a sense of current heading based on self-motion, with global and local cues providing a reference frame. The insect central complex acts as a navigation center, integrating visual information to form an internal representation of heading. It is unclear how optic flow is integrated into the central-complex network.
FRONTIERS IN NEURAL CIRCUITS
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Erich M. Staudacher, Michel-Leon Cigan, Felix Wenz, Aleksandra Pollun, Sascha Beck, Marius Beck, Fabienne Reh, Judith Haas, Uwe Homberg
Summary: In most animals, the brain integrates multiple external and internal signals and transmits them as commands to motor centers. The central complex in insects is a motor control center involved in decision-making and navigation. In desert locusts, it encodes celestial cues indicating a role in sky-compass navigation. A complete analysis of descending brain neurons (DBNs) and their relationship to the central complex is still lacking in locusts.
JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE NEUROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Stefanie Jahn, Vanessa Althaus, Jannik Heckmann, Mona Janning, Ann-Katrin Seip, Naomi Takahashi, Clara Grigoriev, Juliana Kolano, Uwe Homberg
Summary: Insects have remarkable navigation abilities, and the navigation center in the insect brain, called the central complex (CX), controls spatial orientation and directed locomotion. This study focused on the cockroach CX and found unique organization and attributes, possibly related to the ecological niche of this nocturnal insect.
JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE NEUROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Uwe Homberg, Michelle Kirchner, Kevin Kowalewski, Vanessa Pitz, Michiyo Kinoshita, Martina Kern, Jutta Seyfarth
Summary: Serotonin functions as a neuromodulator in both vertebrate and invertebrate nervous systems. In insects, it affects feeding, olfactory sensitivity, aggressive behavior, and sleep homeostasis in the central complex. This study analyzed the distribution and identity of serotonin-immunoreactive neurons in various insect species, revealing taxon-specific differences in their targets and indicating distinct evolutionary changes in the composition of these neurons in the central complex.
JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE NEUROLOGY
(2023)
Correction
Behavioral Sciences
Uwe Homberg, Keram Pfeiffer
JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY A-NEUROETHOLOGY SENSORY NEURAL AND BEHAVIORAL PHYSIOLOGY
(2023)