Topic: motion detection circuits

The motion detection circuits within Drosophila melanogaster are amongst the best characterized and understood in circuit neuroscience. Visual information is processed in four retinotopically arranged neuropils called lamina, medulla, lobula and lobula plate. Within the visual processing stream, T4 and T5 cells are the first neurons which respond to motion in a directionally selective way. T4 cells respond preferentially to moving bright edges (ON-pathway), T5 cells to moving dark edges (OFF-pathway). Both T4 and T5 cells come in four subtypes (a,b,c,d), which encode one of the four cardinal d