小柯机器人

德国慕尼黑工业大学Ruben Portugues团队近期取得重要工作进展，他们研究发现了斑马鱼航向回路的神经动力学和结构。相关研究成果2023年4月24日在线发表于《自然—神经科学》杂志上。

据介绍，动物会产生它们前进方向的神经表征。在昆虫中，方向是由中央复合体中神经元的活动在地形上表示的。尽管在脊椎动物中已经发现了头部方向的细胞，但赋予它们特性的连接属性目前尚不清楚。

使用体积光片成像，研究人员在斑马鱼前后脑的神经元网络中发现了航向方向的地形表征，其中活动的正弦曲线随着鱼的定向游动而旋转，并且在许多秒内保持稳定。电子显微镜重建显示，尽管细胞体位于背侧区域，但这些神经元在足间核中呈树枝状，其中相互抑制连接稳定了编码航向的环状吸引器网络。

总之，这些神经元与果蝇中枢复合体中发现的神经元相似，这表明相似的回路结构原理可能是动物界航向表示的基础。

附：英文原文

Title: Neural dynamics and architecture of the heading direction circuit in zebrafish

Author: Petrucco, Luigi, Lavian, Hagar, Wu, You Kure, Svara, Fabian, tih, Vilim, Portugues, Ruben

Issue&Volume: 2023-04-24

Abstract: Animals generate neural representations of their heading direction. Notably, in insects, heading direction is topographically represented by the activity of neurons in the central complex. Although head direction cells have been found in vertebrates, the connectivity that endows them with their properties is unknown. Using volumetric lightsheet imaging, we find a topographical representation of heading direction in a neuronal network in the zebrafish anterior hindbrain, where a sinusoidal bump of activity rotates following directional swims of the fish and is otherwise stable over many seconds. Electron microscopy reconstructions show that, although the cell bodies are located in a dorsal region, these neurons arborize in the interpeduncular nucleus, where reciprocal inhibitory connectivity stabilizes the ring attractor network that encodes heading. These neurons resemble those found in the fly central complex, showing that similar circuit architecture principles may underlie the representation of heading direction across the animal kingdom and paving the way to an unprecedented mechanistic understanding of these networks in vertebrates.

DOI: 10.1038/s41593-023-01308-5

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-023-01308-5

Nature Neuroscience：《自然—神经科学》，创刊于1998年。隶属于施普林格·自然出版集团，最新IF：28.771
官方网址：https://www.nature.com/neuro/
投稿链接：https://mts-nn.nature.com/cgi-bin/main.plex