1.A Neuronal Pathway that Commands Deceleration in Drosophila Larval Light-Avoidance.
Caixia GONG ; Zhenhuan OUYANG ; Weiqiao ZHAO ; Jie WANG ; Kun LI ; Peipei ZHOU ; Ting ZHAO ; Nenggan ZHENG ; Zhefeng GONG
Neuroscience Bulletin 2019;35(6):959-968
When facing a sudden danger or aversive condition while engaged in on-going forward motion, animals transiently slow down and make a turn to escape. The neural mechanisms underlying stimulation-induced deceleration in avoidance behavior are largely unknown. Here, we report that in Drosophila larvae, light-induced deceleration was commanded by a continuous neural pathway that included prothoracicotropic hormone neurons, eclosion hormone neurons, and tyrosine decarboxylase 2 motor neurons (the PET pathway). Inhibiting neurons in the PET pathway led to defects in light-avoidance due to insufficient deceleration and head casting. On the other hand, activation of PET pathway neurons specifically caused immediate deceleration in larval locomotion. Our findings reveal a neural substrate for the emergent deceleration response and provide a new understanding of the relationship between behavioral modules in animal avoidance responses.
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