Physics Colloquium: Uncovering motor control in insect flight

Abstract: 

There comes a time in each of our lives where we grab a thick section of the morning paper, roll it up and set off to do battle with one of nature’s most accomplished aviators - the fly. If, however, instead of swatting we could magnify our view and experience the world in slow motion we would be privy to a world-class ballet full of graceful figure-eight wing strokes, effortless pirouettes, and astonishing acrobatics. After watching such a magnificent display, who among us could destroy this virtuoso? How do flies produce acrobatic maneuvers with such precision? What control mechanisms do they need to maneuver? How is this control implemented at the neuromuscular scale? In this talk I will discuss how we are combining newly-emerging tools for neural manipulation with quantitative behavioral modeling to gain a deeper understanding of how neural circuits are organized to control such complex motor behaviors. 

Event Organizer: Dr. Yoav Lahini