# Mechanisms of Active Sensing in Drosophila

> **NIH NIH R00** · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $213,764

## Abstract

Project Summary
The goal of this project is to study the cellular basis of active sensation. A crucial function of all nervous systems
is to distinguish between sensory stimuli originating from the external world and that generated by our own
movements. This task relies on brain circuits that integrate sensory information with an internal model, or
expectation, of self-generated movements. The complexity and intractability of many models used to study active
sensing means that translating insights from these studies to failures of normal nervous system function remains
challenging. Fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) actively move their antennae, and my recent work has
elucidated a neural circuit that processes mechanosensory information from the antenna. Given the power of
Drosophila as a genetic model organism, this project aims to develop the neural circuits controlling and sensing
antennal movement as a cellular model for studying principles of active sensing. In the K99 (mentored) portion
of this grant, I will identify the cellular location at which self- versus externally-generated mechanosensory signals
become differentially represented in the brain. I will make electrophysiological recordings of intracellular activity
from 2nd and 3rd order mechanosensory neurons and compare how these two populations encode passive and
active movements of the antennae. I will distinguish between these two types of movements using machine
learning analysis of simultaneously recorded video data. For the R00 (independent) phase, I will use
optogenetics and immunohistochemistry to identify motor neurons that control antennal movement. I will then
ask where input from motor neurons impinge on the sensory circuit. Finally, I will test the role of active antennal
movements in behavior. By perturbing active antennal movements in freely walking and flying flies, I will directly
test how these movements enable different behavioral tasks such as wind orientation and obstacle avoidance.
Together, these experiments will identify the cellular basis for active sensing in Drosophila, and their role in goal-
oriented behaviors.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10814215
- **Project number:** 5R00NS114179-05
- **Recipient organization:** VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** MARIE SUVER
- **Activity code:** R00 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $213,764
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-03-15 → 2025-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10814215

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10814215, Mechanisms of Active Sensing in Drosophila (5R00NS114179-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10814215. Licensed CC0.

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