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Could you find your way to the coffee shop in a stormy weather by just smelling the coffee? Well, flies #Drosophila can do! How? My recent article on @eLife will give you some hints. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.57524 . Here is the thread. @fly_papers #neurosceice #biophysics #SciComm
So, what is the deal here? Please remember, fluctuating wind erases odor gradients that flies can follow. So flies have to rely on the odor packets that sweep by rapidly at random times. Therefore, a reflexive strategy is not a good idea. What flies do instead is fascinating!
In these rapidly fluctuating odor plumes, flies adopt a stochastic navigation algorithm. They use the frequency of odor encounters to assign probabilities to their turn and stop behaviors. As frequency increases saccadic turns to upwind becomes more likely.
While walking, flies reset their stopping probability with each encounter they receive. However when stopped, they accumulate olfactory evidence from recent encounters to decide when to walk again.
In summary, when odor environment is complex and highly unpredictable, flies employ a stochastic navigation strategy, similar to random walks adopted by many other animals and microorganisms, which is shaped by the timing of the odor encounters.
For further reading, see the @eLife Insight article by Antonio Celani https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.63385
Our works is also appeared on @yaledailynews, see the article by Kaitlin Flores http://disq.us/t/3sx3y0v
And by Yale News:
How insects find their targets in a chaotic world https://news.yale.edu/2020/11/03/how-insects-find-their-targets-chaotic-world
How insects find their targets in a chaotic world https://news.yale.edu/2020/11/03/how-insects-find-their-targets-chaotic-world
Lastly, I am thankful to my collaborators Nirag Kadakia (first co-author), Hope Anderson, Damon Clark for their precious contributions while I was carrying out this work in @EmonetLab
