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Mechanics of exploration in Drosophila melanogaster

Jane Loveless, Konstantinos Lagogiannis, Barbara Webb
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/354795
Jane Loveless
1Institute for Perception, Action, and Behaviour, School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, 10 Crichton Street, Edinburgh EH8 9AB, Scotland, UK
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Konstantinos Lagogiannis
1Institute for Perception, Action, and Behaviour, School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, 10 Crichton Street, Edinburgh EH8 9AB, Scotland, UK
2MRC Centre for Developmental Neurobiology, New Hunt’s House, King’s College London, Guy’s Hospital Campus, London SE1 1UL, UK
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Barbara Webb
1Institute for Perception, Action, and Behaviour, School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, 10 Crichton Street, Edinburgh EH8 9AB, Scotland, UK
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Abstract

The Drosophila larva executes a stereotypical exploratory routine that appears to consist of stochastic alternation between straight peristaltic crawling and reorientation events through lateral bending. We present a model of larval mechanics for axial and transverse motion over a planar substrate, and use it to develop a simple, reflexive neuromuscular model from physical principles. In the absence of damping and driving, the mechanics of the body produces axial travelling waves, lateral oscillations, and unpredictable, chaotic deformations. The neuromuscular system counteracts friction to recover these motion patterns, giving rise to forward and backward peristalsis in addition to turning. The model produces spontaneous exploration, even though the model nervous system has no intrinsic pattern generating or decision making ability, and neither senses nor drives bending motions. Ultimately, our model suggests a novel view of larval exploration as a deterministic superdiffusion process which is mechanistically grounded in the chaotic mechanics of the body.

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  • ↵* bwebb{at}inf.ed.ac.uk

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Posted July 03, 2018.
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Mechanics of exploration in Drosophila melanogaster
Jane Loveless, Konstantinos Lagogiannis, Barbara Webb
bioRxiv 354795; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/354795
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Mechanics of exploration in Drosophila melanogaster
Jane Loveless, Konstantinos Lagogiannis, Barbara Webb
bioRxiv 354795; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/354795

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