@article {68103,
	title = {Maintaining a stable head direction representation in naturalistic visual environments},
	journal = {bioRxiv},
	year = {2022},
	month = {2022 May 18},
	abstract = {<p>Many animals rely on a representation of head direction for flexible, goal-directed navigation. In insects, a compass-like head direction representation is maintained in a conserved brain region called the central complex. This head direction representation is updated by self-motion information and by tethering to sensory cues in the surroundings through a plasticity mechanism. However, under natural settings, some of these sensory cues may temporarily disappear{\textemdash}for example, when clouds hide the sun{\textemdash}and prominent landmarks at different distances from the insect may move across the animal{\textquoteright}s field of view during translation, creating potential conflicts for a neural compass. We used two-photon calcium imaging in head-fixed Drosophila behaving in virtual reality to monitor the fly{\textquoteright}s compass during navigation in immersive naturalistic environments with approachable local landmarks. We found that the fly{\textquoteright}s compass remains stable even in these settings by tethering to available global cues, likely preserving the animal{\textquoteright}s ability to perform compass-driven behaviors such as maintaining a constant heading.</p>
},
	doi = {10.1101/2022.05.17.492284},
	url = {https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.05.17.492284},
	author = {Hannah Haberkern and Shivam S Chitnis and Philip M Hubbard and Tobias Goulet and Ann M Hermundstad and Vivek Jayaraman}
}
