Reconstruction of Virtual Neural Circuits in an Insect Brain

The reconstruction of large-scale nervous systems represents a major scientific and engineering challenge in current neuroscience research that needs to be resolved in order to understand the emergent properties of such systems. We focus on insect nervous systems because they represent a good compromise between architectural simplicity and the ability to generate a rich behavioral repertoire. In insects, several sensory maps have been reconstructed so far. We provide an overview over this work including our reconstruction of population activity in the primary olfactory network, the antennal lobe. Our reconstruction approach, that also provides functional connectivity data, will be refined and extended to allow the building of larger scale neural circuits up to entire insect brains, from sensory input to motor output.

[1]  G. Laurent,et al.  Hebbian STDP in mushroom bodies facilitates the synchronous flow of olfactory information in locusts , 2007, Nature.

[2]  Ryohei Kanzaki,et al.  Insect-Controlled Robot - Evaluation of Adaptation Ability - , 2007, J. Robotics Mechatronics.

[3]  R. Menzel,et al.  The glomerular code for odor representation is species specific in the honeybee Apis mellifera , 1999, Nature Neuroscience.

[4]  F. Theunissen,et al.  Functional organization of a neural map in the cricket cercal sensory system , 1996, The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.

[5]  G. Shepherd,et al.  Mechanisms of olfactory discrimination: converging evidence for common principles across phyla. , 1997, Annual review of neuroscience.

[6]  L. Vosshall,et al.  Molecular architecture of smell and taste in Drosophila. , 2007, Annual review of neuroscience.

[7]  W. Reichardt.  Autokorrelations-Auswertung als Funktionsprinzip des Zentralnervensystems , 1957 .

[8]  R. Peri,et al.  High-throughput electrophysiology: an emerging paradigm for ion-channel screening and physiology , 2008, Nature Reviews Drug Discovery.

[9]  R. Kanzaki,et al.  Modular subdivision of mushroom bodies by kenyon cells in the silkmoth , 2009, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[10]  F. Delcomyn.  Insect walking and robotics. , 2003, Annual review of entomology.

[11]  Randolf Menzel,et al.  Rapid odor processing in the honeybee antennal lobe network , 2009 .

[12]  R. Kanzaki,et al.  Constancy and variability of glomerular organization in the antennal lobe of the silkmoth , 2009, Cell and Tissue Research.

[13]  Barbara Webb,et al.  Robots in invertebrate neuroscience , 2002, Nature.

[14]  D. Chklovskii,et al.  Neurogeometry and potential synaptic connectivity , 2005, Trends in Neurosciences.

[15]  Ryohei Kanzaki,et al.  Development and application of a neuroinformatics environment for neuroscience and neuroethology , 2008, Neural Networks.

[16]  R. Menzel,et al.  Three‐dimensional average‐shape atlas of the honeybee brain and its applications , 2005, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[17]  Christopher M. Comer,et al.  Identified nerve cells and insect behavior , 2001, Progress in Neurobiology.

[18]  R. Kanzaki,et al.  Comprehensive morphological identification and GABA immunocytochemistry of antennal lobe local interneurons in Bombyx mori , 2008, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[19]  Vikas Bhandawat,et al.  Excitatory Interactions between Olfactory Processing Channels in the Drosophila Antennal Lobe , 2007, Neuron.

[20]  S. Brenner,et al.  The structure of the nervous system of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. , 1986, Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences.

[21]  G. Laurent,et al.  Short-term memory in olfactory network dynamics , 1999, Nature.

[22]  R. Menzel,et al.  A digital three-dimensional atlas of the honeybee antennal lobe based on optical sections acquired by confocal microscopy , 1999, Cell and Tissue Research.

[23]  H. Markram.  The Blue Brain Project , 2006, Nature Reviews Neuroscience.

[24]  J. G. Bjaalie,et al.  Database and tools for analysis of topographic organization and map transformations in major projection systems of the brain , 2005, Neuroscience.

[25]  Jacob E. Levin,et al.  Construction and analysis of a database representing a neural map , 1994, Microscopy research and technique.

[26]  J. Hildebrand,et al.  Chemosensory Selectivity of Output Neurons Innervating an Identified, Sexually Isomorphic Olfactory Glomerulus , 2005, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[27]  Gilles Laurent,et al.  Olfactory network dynamics and the coding of multidimensional signals , 2002, Nature Reviews Neuroscience.

[28]  A. Hodgkin,et al.  A quantitative description of membrane current and its application to conduction and excitation in nerve , 1952, The Journal of physiology.

[29]  R. C. Eaton,et al.  The Mauthner cell and other identified neurons of the brainstem escape network of fish , 2001, Progress in Neurobiology.

[30]  Ansgar Büschges,et al.  Adaptive motor behavior in insects , 2007, Current Opinion in Neurobiology.

[31]  F. Theunissen,et al.  Extraction of Sensory Parameters from a Neural Map by Primary Sensory Interneurons , 2000, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[32]  Kei Ito,et al.  Integration of Chemosensory Pathways in the Drosophila Second-Order Olfactory Centers , 2004, Current Biology.

[33]  Martin Egelhaaf,et al.  Saccadic flight strategy facilitates collision avoidance: closed-loop performance of a cyberfly , 2008, Biological Cybernetics.

[34]  R. Kanzaki,et al.  Physiological and morphological characterization of olfactory descending interneurons of the male silkworm moth, Bombyx mori , 1999, Journal of Comparative Physiology A.

[35]  Stanley Heinze,et al.  Maplike Representation of Celestial E-Vector Orientations in the Brain of an Insect , 2007, Science.

[36]  J. Hildebrand,et al.  Inhibitory interactions among olfactory glomeruli do not necessarily reflect spatial proximity. , 2008, Journal of neurophysiology.

[37]  E. Marder,et al.  Understanding circuit dynamics using the stomatogastric nervous system of lobsters and crabs. , 2007, Annual review of physiology.

[38]  E. Kandel,et al.  A cellular mechanism of classical conditioning in Aplysia: activity-dependent amplification of presynaptic facilitation. , 1983, Science.

[39]  Ryohei Kanzaki,et al.  Understanding and Reconstruction of the Mobiligence of Insects Employing Multiscale Biological Approaches and Robotics , 2008, Adv. Robotics.

[40]  Torsten Rohlfing,et al.  Standardized atlas of the brain of the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria , 2008, Cell and Tissue Research.

[41]  L. Luo,et al.  Comprehensive Maps of Drosophila Higher Olfactory Centers: Spatially Segregated Fruit and Pheromone Representation , 2007, Cell.

[42]  Kevin C. Daly,et al.  A 4-dimensional representation of antennal lobe output based on an ensemble of characterized projection neurons , 2009, Journal of Neuroscience Methods.

[43]  John R. Carlson,et al.  Coding of Odors by a Receptor Repertoire , 2006, Cell.

[44]  Gilles Laurent,et al.  Transformation of Olfactory Representations in the Drosophila Antennal Lobe , 2004, Science.

[45]  Ryohei Kanzaki,et al.  Neural control mechanisms of the pheromone‐triggered programmed behavior in male silkmoths revealed by double‐labeling of descending interneurons and a motor neuron , 2005, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[46]  D. McCormick,et al.  Turning on and off recurrent balanced cortical activity , 2003, Nature.

[47]  Ryohei Kanzaki,et al.  Reconstructing the Population Activity of Olfactory Output Neurons that Innervate Identifiable Processing Units , 2008, Frontiers in neural circuits.

[48]  J. Bacon,et al.  Receptive fields of cricket giant interneurones are related to their dendritic structure. , 1984, The Journal of physiology.