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2014 Nicholas Kathman Dissertation.pdf (5.13 MB)

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Encoding Wide-Field Motion Characteristics in the Central Complex of the Cockroach, Blaberus discoidalis

Kathman, Nicholas D
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1418646722

Abstract Details

2015, Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, Biology.
Wide-field motion is an important source of information used in visual control of locomotion. It has been extensively studied in the optic lobes of flies and shown to be sufficient to control flight maneuvers needed for course control. Additionally, the central complex (CX), an associative in the arthropod brain, receives various forms of sensory signals, including visual inputs, and is also involved in locomotor functions. Yet its precise role in behavior is controversial. In this thesis, I used multi-channel extracellular electrophysiology to record from large populations of neurons in the cockroach CX while presenting wide-field visual motion that is varied across several parameters. The benefits of long term recording of relatively large populations of neurons revealed the CX as a structure that encodes rich and diverse visual motion information at a population level, including characteristics such as speed, timing, and direction. Some of these sensitivities were also been found to be conditional to others. For instance certain cells showed directional selectivity, but only at narrow bands of stimulus speeds. This information may also contain localized regions of directional variability that correlate with specific rotational and translational movements. From experiments where individual compound eyes were occluded during stimulus presentations, certain neurons in the central complex 2 showed biases in response amplitude when only receiving input from one compound eye, and these biases were correlated to the direction of motion inducing the response. Finally, turning behavior was not only shown to correlate with wide-field motion, but could be inhibited by silencing the CX. These behavioral data were collected in conjunction with a colleague, Malavika Kesavan. These findings taken together, suggest the CX uses diverse wide-field visual motion, likely integrated with various other sensory information, in controlling locomotion. This system may work in parallel to a more direct visual motion control system, but is necessary for such control.
Hillel Chiel (Committee Chair)
Roy Ritzmann (Advisor)
Mark Willis (Committee Member)
Jessica Fox (Committee Member)
Daniel Wesson (Committee Member)
140 p.
Neurobiology

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Citations

  • Kathman, N. D. (2015). Encoding Wide-Field Motion Characteristics in the Central Complex of the Cockroach, Blaberus discoidalis [Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1418646722

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Kathman, Nicholas. Encoding Wide-Field Motion Characteristics in the Central Complex of the Cockroach, Blaberus discoidalis. 2015. Case Western Reserve University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1418646722.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Kathman, Nicholas. "Encoding Wide-Field Motion Characteristics in the Central Complex of the Cockroach, Blaberus discoidalis." Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1418646722

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

case1418646722
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© 2014, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies and OhioLINK.