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Visual Motion Detection in Drosophila

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Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience

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Synonyms

Elementary motion detection, Motion vision

Definition

Visual motion detection describes the process by which directional information about local image motion is extracted from the spatiotemporal excitation pattern of the photoreceptor array.

Detailed Description

Visual motion information is of utmost importance for all animals including man: motion information can signal the direction in which a prey, a predator, or a conspecific is moving. Furthermore, motion information can also signal the movement of the observer in space: during movement, the images of the environment will constantly shift across the observer’s eyes, causing an optic flow that is specific for the various kinds of maneuvers executed. However, at the level of the photoreceptors, the direction in which the image is shifting locally is not explicitly represented. Rather, directional motion information needs to be extracted from the photoreceptor array by comparing the signals of neighboring photoreceptors over...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max-Planck-Institut für Neurobiologie, Am Klopferspitz 18, Martinsried, 82152, Germany

    Prof. Alexander Borst

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  1. Prof. Alexander Borst
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Correspondence to Alexander Borst .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Dieter Jaeger

  2. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA

    Ranu Jung

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Borst, A. (2014). Visual Motion Detection in Drosophila . In: Jaeger, D., Jung, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_329-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_329-2

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  1. Latest

    Published:
    30 May 2014

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_329-2

  2. Original

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    14 February 2014

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_329-1

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