UW team lead: Eli Shlizerman (1), eScience Fellow
Collaborators: James Phillips-Portillo(2), Daniel B. Forger(3), Steven M. Reppert(1)
(1) Departments of Applied Mathematics and Electrical Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
(2) Department of Neurobiology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA
(3) Departments of Mathematics and Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, USA
Overview
Migrating Eastern North American monarch butterflies use a time-compensated sun compass to adjust their flight to the southwest direction. To understand how it is implemented on a neural level we derived a neural circuit model, which integrates azimuthal and circadian signals to correct flight direction.
The model demonstrates an integration mechanism, which produces robust trajectories reaching the southwest regardless of the time of day and includes a configuration for remigration.
Find more information here.
