Sensory systems and flight stability: What do insects measure and why?

In the absence of much passive stability, flying insects rely upon active stabilisation, necessitating the provision of rich sensory feedback across a range of modalities. Here we consider from a sensory perspective what quantities flying insects measure, in order to ask from a mechanical perspectiv...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Taylor, G, Krapp, H, Simpson, S
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: 2007
_version_ 1826270667640668160
author Taylor, G
Krapp, H
Simpson, S
author_facet Taylor, G
Krapp, H
Simpson, S
author_sort Taylor, G
collection OXFORD
description In the absence of much passive stability, flying insects rely upon active stabilisation, necessitating the provision of rich sensory feedback across a range of modalities. Here we consider from a sensory perspective what quantities flying insects measure, in order to ask from a mechanical perspective why they should want to do so. We consider each of the sensory modalities separately and uncover three general principles. Firstly, we find that insects have evolved to measure changes in kinematic state, rather than absolute state. For example, although the antennae may be loosely thought of as airspeed sensors, we show that they are configured as a sophisticated adaptive sensing system which is much more appropriate for measuring changes in airspeed than absolute airspeed. Secondly, we find that insect sensory systems are tuned to sense self-motion components in specific directions. For example, certain visual interneurons of flies operate as matched filters that are tuned to detect the optic flow fields induced specifically by rotation about one particular axis. Thirdly, we find that insects commonly combine sensory input from across modalities to form composite, multi-modal quantities which they use as feedback to the control system. For example, certain individually identified descending interneurons combine input from the compound eyes, ocelli, antennae, and cephalic wind-sensitive hairs into one composite signal which is then used in flight control. We infer from these three general organisational principles that insects are configured to sense excitation of their natural modes of motion. This natural-mode sensing hypothesis: (1) explains why insects should want to sense changes in state rather than absolute state; (2) predicts what specific directions of motion they should sense, and (3) specifies how sensory input from different modalities should be combined. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
first_indexed 2024-03-06T21:44:26Z
format Journal article
id oxford-uuid:491253a9-ba6f-4274-b239-cef232ef8cbc
institution University of Oxford
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-06T21:44:26Z
publishDate 2007
record_format dspace
spelling oxford-uuid:491253a9-ba6f-4274-b239-cef232ef8cbc2022-03-26T15:29:26ZSensory systems and flight stability: What do insects measure and why?Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:491253a9-ba6f-4274-b239-cef232ef8cbcEnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2007Taylor, GKrapp, HSimpson, SIn the absence of much passive stability, flying insects rely upon active stabilisation, necessitating the provision of rich sensory feedback across a range of modalities. Here we consider from a sensory perspective what quantities flying insects measure, in order to ask from a mechanical perspective why they should want to do so. We consider each of the sensory modalities separately and uncover three general principles. Firstly, we find that insects have evolved to measure changes in kinematic state, rather than absolute state. For example, although the antennae may be loosely thought of as airspeed sensors, we show that they are configured as a sophisticated adaptive sensing system which is much more appropriate for measuring changes in airspeed than absolute airspeed. Secondly, we find that insect sensory systems are tuned to sense self-motion components in specific directions. For example, certain visual interneurons of flies operate as matched filters that are tuned to detect the optic flow fields induced specifically by rotation about one particular axis. Thirdly, we find that insects commonly combine sensory input from across modalities to form composite, multi-modal quantities which they use as feedback to the control system. For example, certain individually identified descending interneurons combine input from the compound eyes, ocelli, antennae, and cephalic wind-sensitive hairs into one composite signal which is then used in flight control. We infer from these three general organisational principles that insects are configured to sense excitation of their natural modes of motion. This natural-mode sensing hypothesis: (1) explains why insects should want to sense changes in state rather than absolute state; (2) predicts what specific directions of motion they should sense, and (3) specifies how sensory input from different modalities should be combined. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
spellingShingle Taylor, G
Krapp, H
Simpson, S
Sensory systems and flight stability: What do insects measure and why?
title Sensory systems and flight stability: What do insects measure and why?
title_full Sensory systems and flight stability: What do insects measure and why?
title_fullStr Sensory systems and flight stability: What do insects measure and why?
title_full_unstemmed Sensory systems and flight stability: What do insects measure and why?
title_short Sensory systems and flight stability: What do insects measure and why?
title_sort sensory systems and flight stability what do insects measure and why
work_keys_str_mv AT taylorg sensorysystemsandflightstabilitywhatdoinsectsmeasureandwhy
AT krapph sensorysystemsandflightstabilitywhatdoinsectsmeasureandwhy
AT simpsons sensorysystemsandflightstabilitywhatdoinsectsmeasureandwhy