New
research gives first evidence that invertebrates have brain cells
dedicated to selective attention, previously known only in primates.
In an experiment carried out by the University of Adelaide, Australia,
the neuronal activity of hunting dragonflies was measured using a
minuscule glass probe (1/1500th the width of a human hair at the tip).
When the dragonfly was presented with multiple visual
targets, a neuron known as CSTMD1 "locks on" to a single target and the
dragonfly pays no attention to the other visual stimuli.
This
ability is shown in the dragonfly's impressive hunting skills. If a
dragonfly is hunting an insect in a swarm, it has to discriminate
between its target and possibly thousands of other fast-moving objects.
And it does this brilliantly, getting its chosen target around 97% of
the time. The target is selected, neuron activity filters out other
stimuli and it strikes.
"What's exciting for us is that this is
the first direct demonstration of something akin to selective attention
in humans shown at the single neuron level in an invertebrate," said
co-author David O'Caroll. "Recent studies reveal similar mechanisms at
work in the primate brain, but you might expect it there. We weren't
expecting to find something so sophisticated in lowly insects from a
group that's been around for 325 million years."
Photo credit: Rob Hainer/Shutterstock.
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/
http://www.livescience.com/
http://www.redorbit.com/news/
New
research gives first evidence that invertebrates have brain cells
dedicated to selective attention, previously known only in primates.
In an experiment carried out by the University of Adelaide, Australia, the neuronal activity of hunting dragonflies was measured using a minuscule glass probe (1/1500th the width of a human hair at the tip). When the dragonfly was presented with multiple visual targets, a neuron known as CSTMD1 "locks on" to a single target and the dragonfly pays no attention to the other visual stimuli.
This ability is shown in the dragonfly's impressive hunting skills. If a dragonfly is hunting an insect in a swarm, it has to discriminate between its target and possibly thousands of other fast-moving objects. And it does this brilliantly, getting its chosen target around 97% of the time. The target is selected, neuron activity filters out other stimuli and it strikes.
"What's exciting for us is that this is the first direct demonstration of something akin to selective attention in humans shown at the single neuron level in an invertebrate," said co-author David O'Caroll. "Recent studies reveal similar mechanisms at work in the primate brain, but you might expect it there. We weren't expecting to find something so sophisticated in lowly insects from a group that's been around for 325 million years."
Photo credit: Rob Hainer/Shutterstock.
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/
http://www.livescience.com/
http://www.redorbit.com/news/
In an experiment carried out by the University of Adelaide, Australia, the neuronal activity of hunting dragonflies was measured using a minuscule glass probe (1/1500th the width of a human hair at the tip). When the dragonfly was presented with multiple visual targets, a neuron known as CSTMD1 "locks on" to a single target and the dragonfly pays no attention to the other visual stimuli.
This ability is shown in the dragonfly's impressive hunting skills. If a dragonfly is hunting an insect in a swarm, it has to discriminate between its target and possibly thousands of other fast-moving objects. And it does this brilliantly, getting its chosen target around 97% of the time. The target is selected, neuron activity filters out other stimuli and it strikes.
"What's exciting for us is that this is the first direct demonstration of something akin to selective attention in humans shown at the single neuron level in an invertebrate," said co-author David O'Caroll. "Recent studies reveal similar mechanisms at work in the primate brain, but you might expect it there. We weren't expecting to find something so sophisticated in lowly insects from a group that's been around for 325 million years."
Photo credit: Rob Hainer/Shutterstock.
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/
http://www.livescience.com/
http://www.redorbit.com/news/
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