Tiny insect brains capable of giant feats
June 12th, 2010 - 3:05 pm ICT by IANSSydney, June 12 (IANS) Insects may have tiny brains the size of a pinhead, but latest research shows just how clever they really are.
For the first time, researchers from the University of Adelaide’s physiology department have worked out how insects judge the speed of moving objects.
It appears that insect brain cells have additional mechanisms which can calculate how to make a controlled landing on a flower or reach a food source. This ability only works in a natural setting.
David O’Carroll, associate professor from University of Adelaide, who led the study, says insects have well identified brain cells dedicated to analysing visual motion, which are very similar to humans.
“It was previously not understood how a tiny insect brain could use multiple brain pathways to judge motion,” O’Carroll says.
“We have known for many years that they can estimate the direction of moving objects but until now we have not known how they judge speed like other animals, including humans.
“It appears they take into account different light patterns in nature, such as a foggy morning or a sunny day, and their brain cells adapt accordingly.
“This mechanism in their brain enables them to distinguish moving objects in a wide variety of natural settings. It also highlights the fact that single neurons can exhibit extremely complex behaviour.”
O’Carroll co-authored the paper with Paul Barnett, a physiology doctoral student at the University of Adelaide and Karin Nördstrom, former physiology postdoctoral fellow at Adelaide who is now based at Uppsala University in Sweden.
These findings were published in Current Biology.
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Tags: brain cells, brain pathways, carroll co, current biology, doctoral student, foggy morning, food source, light patterns, moving objects, natural settings, patterns in nature, paul barnett, physiology department, pinhead, time researchers, tiny insect, university in sweden, university of adelaide, uppsala university in sweden, visual motion