Our digital telemetry system allowed us to monitor simultaneously the sensory and motor activity evoked by looming stimuli during collision avoidance behaviors (Experimental Procedures and

Figure S1, available online). The simulated objects were black discs on a bright background with various size to speed ratios, l/|v|, where l is the disc radius and |v| the approach speed. This parameter has units of time and determines the stimulus angular size, θ(t), since by http://www.selleckchem.com/products/i-bet151-gsk1210151a.html trigonometry the tangent of θ/2 is the ratio of l to the object’s distance (v × t; Figure 1, Experimental Procedures). Equivalently, l/|v| is the time remaining to collision when the stimulus subtends 90° on the retina. Thus, the faster the stimulus approach speed, |v|, the smaller l/|v|. Looming stimuli were always presented on one side of the animal so that a single DCMD neuron was stimulated. Figure 1 shows a trial in which a locust jumped in response to a looming stimulus (Movie S1). Spikes from the DCMD, the FETi, and flexor motoneurons were obtained by extracellular recording from the contralateral nerve cord, the hindleg extensor, and flexor muscles, respectively. The time course of vertical acceleration was measured by an on-board accelerometer. The locust jump is a complex behavior, consisting of several distinct phases,

during which the animal orients itself away from the approaching object using its middle legs and stores the energy required for take-off in the elastic elements of its hindlegs (Burrows, 1996 and Santer et al.,

2005). By monitoring the position of the hindleg femur-tibia joint, we previously mTOR inhibitor showed that after an initial flexion of the tibia, the joint moves to align the leg parallel to the body (initial joint movement [IJM]; Fotowat and Gabbiani, 2007). Subsequently, the flexor and extensor muscles contract simultaneously to store the mechanical energy required for the jump (cocontraction). This leads to a final femur-tibia joint movement (FJM), which is followed by cessation of activity in the flexors (triggering) that allows energy release and take-off. Looming stimuli with l/|v| values larger than 40 ms led to jumps before the expected collision time. As illustrated in until Figure 1, locusts started to accelerate toward the end of cocontraction, and vertical acceleration peaked immediately after triggering (mean: 5.8 gn, standard deviation [SD]: 1.3; number of locusts, nL = 3, number of trials, nT = 20; Experimental Procedures). During cocontraction, the flexors and extensors fired fairly regular spike trains (mean ISI: 14 ms, CV: 0.69, nL = 4, nT = 54), and the number of their spikes were highly correlated (ρ = 0.8, p < 10−9). The DCMD firing rate gradually increased, peaked, and sharply decreased before projected collision, as observed in fixed animals (Fotowat and Gabbiani, 2007).