Development of behavioral paradigms to study sensorimotor integration

We are currently developing “freely moving” and “tethered” behavioral paradigms in virtual reality-like worlds designed to probe the computational capacities of the fly’s brain during visually guided orientation behaviors. These shall form a platform for studying: a) how the fly uses its own movements and the generated visual motion cues to explore an environment, b) how her brain incorporates sensory signals to correct locomotion during orientation towards objects, and c) how do past experiences inform ongoing behavior.