ELSC Seminar Series

Over the past decade, there has been notable progress in delineating the functional logic of the insect central complex. In this talk, I will discuss how this central brain region operates as a microcomputer that calculates the values of angles and two-dimensional vectors important for navigational behavior. This work provides an atypically explicit framework for understanding how spatial memories are built, stored, and guide behavior. How these insights were made in Drosophila suggests a roadmap for reaching a similar level of understanding in mammalian cognition down the road.