Optimal searching behaviour generated intrinsically by the central pattern generator for locomotion

• Autores: Sims, David W; Humphries, Nicolas E; Hu, Nan; Medan, Violeta; Berni, Jimena
• Año de publicación: 2019
• Idioma: inglés
• Tipo de recurso: artículo
• Materia: locomotion; Drosophila melanogaster; Lévy walks
• Institución: Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas

Efficient searching for resources such as food by animals is key to their survival. It has been proposed that diverse animals from insects to sharks and humans adopt searching patterns that resemble a simple Lévy random walk, which is theoretically optimal for ‘blind foragers’ to locate sparse, patchy resources. To test if such patterns are generated intrinsically, or arise via environmental interactions, we tracked free-moving Drosophila larvae with (and without) blocked synaptic activity in the brain, suboesophageal ganglion (SOG) and sensory neurons. In brain- blocked larvae, we found that extended substrate exploration emerges as multi-scale movement paths similar to truncated Lévy walks. Strikingly, power-law exponents of brain/SOG/sensory- blocked larvae averaged 1.96, close to a theoretical optimum (m ffi 2.0) for locating sparse resources. Thus, efficient spatial exploration can emerge from autonomous patterns in neural activity. Our results provide the strongest evidence so far for the intrinsic generation of Lévy-like movement patterns.
Fil: Sims, David W. The Marine Biological Association; Reino Unido. University of Southampton; Reino Unido
Fil: Humphries, Nicolas E. The Marine Biological Association; Reino Unido
Fil: Hu, Nan. University of Cambridge; Reino Unido
Fil: Medan, Violeta. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Celular; Argentina
Fil: Berni, Jimena. University of Cambridge; Estados Unidos