ReviewJournal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology2023
The sky compass network in the brain of the desert locust.
Review in Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- Article
- Article
- Visual Aggregation Sensitivity of theInsects · 2026Article
- Unexpected Evolutionary Divergence of Tachykinin-Positive Neurons Innervating the Central Complex in Hexapods.The Journal of comparative neurology · 2026Article
- Neurons sensitive to sky compass signals in the brain of the Madeira cockroach Rhyparobia maderae.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2026Article
- A north-south hemispheric migratory divide in the butterfly Vanessa cardui.Nature communications · 2025Article
- The use of the skylight polarization gradient in young sandhopper's orientation.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Programmable LED Array for Evaluating Artificial Light Sources to Improve Insect Trapping.Insects · 2025Article
- Polarized vision in the eyes of the most effective predators: dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata).Die Naturwissenschaften · 2025Review
- A computational model for angular velocity integration in a locust heading circuit.PLoS computational biology · 2024Article
- A perspective on neuroethology: what the past teaches us about the future of neuroethology.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2024Review
- Importance of magnetic information for neuronal plasticity in desert ants.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Behavioral responses of free-flying Drosophila melanogaster to shiny, reflecting surfaces.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2023Article
- Unraveling the neural basis of spatial orientation in arthropods.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2023Article
- Integration of optic flow into the sky compass network in the brain of the desert locust.Frontiers in neural circuits · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Many arthropods and vertebrates use celestial signals such as the position of the sun during the day or stars at night as compass cues for spatial orientation. The neural network underlying sky compass coding in the brain has been studied in great detail in the desert locust Schistocerca gregaria. These insects perform long-range migrations in Northern Africa and the Middle East following seasonal changes in rainfall. Highly specialized photoreceptors in a dorsal rim area of their compound eyes are sensitive to the polarization of the sky, generated by scattered sunlight. These signals are combined with direct information on the sun position in the optic lobe and anterior optic tubercle and converge from both eyes in a midline crossing brain structure, the central complex. Here, head direction coding is achieved by a compass-like arrangement of columns signaling solar azimuth through a 360° range of space by combining direct brightness cues from the sun with polarization cues matching the polarization pattern of the sky. Other directional cues derived from wind direction and internal self-rotation input are likely integrated. Signals are transmitted as coherent steering commands to descending neurons for directional control of locomotion and flight.
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What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.