Butterfly Brain

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Our results demonstrate heterogeneous outcomes. One factor is that different treatment regimens were used. Chemoradiation therapy was shown to provide a survival benefit for patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma based on the publication by Stupp et al. in 2005 [ 15]. Hence, some patients in this study who were treated prior to 2005 received XRT alone. Four in the surgically decompressed group did not receive this regimen due to clinical factors such as anemia and poor functional status. During the transition to concurrent chemoradiation therapy, tamoxifen was prescribed as an alternative radiosensitizer for one patient. Different parts of the brain control different functions, so the symptoms you experiencewill depend partly on where the tumour is within your brain. It will also depend on the treatment you receive. To quantify how well GD neurons encode the goal direction, we measured the goal offset representing the circular difference between the neuron’s pfd and the animal’s goal direction. The goal offset should be invariant throughout conditioning, i.e., a behavioral change in goal direction by ~180° (gray circular plots in Fig. 3f) should be associated with a neuronal change in the pfd by ~180° (blue circular plots in Fig. 3f). We found that the goal offsets were statistically smaller in GD neurons than in HD neurons demonstrating that the angular tuning of GD neurons was tightly linked to the animal’s goal direction ( p< 10 −5, U = 60, n = 20 GD and 13 HD neurons, two-sided Mann–Whitney test; Fig. 3g). Taken together, the tight association between neural tuning and behavioral goal directions and the robust selectivity for encoding the goal is compelling evidence that we recorded from invertebrate neurons that represented an animal’s goal direction. GD neurons are linked to steering neurons After studying the butterflies’ brains under a powerful microscope, researchers found that structures in the brain crucial to visual processes such as color vision and shape and motion detection are between 13 and 27% larger in the brains of the species that lives deep in the forest than in the brains of the species that lives at the forests’ edges. Another brain structure that helps process sky light and polarized light is 23% larger in the deep forest species than in the forest edges species. Previous research has also shown that the deep forest species responds to lower intensities of light, and it makes sense that species of butterflies living in darker forests would need to be more sensitive to light to see and function in dimmer conditions.

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Speak to your care team if you'd like to know what the outlook is for you, as it varies from person to person. Despite the differences found between migratory and non-migratory monarch butterfly populations, the anatomy of the central-complex network in the monarch brain can be expected to be highly similar, even down to single sun compass neurons 33, 79. Differences in the coding of goal directions between the migratory and non-migratory monarch butterflies had been discussed to underly synaptic modifications of the same neurons 25, 37. Such synaptic modifications may explain volumetric differences of some brain regions in migratory and non-migratory monarch butterflies 79. Based on our results from non-migratory monarch butterflies, we predict how the tuning of the same central-complex neurons could be modified to encode long-distance migration in migratory monarch butterflies: Like in all other insects, the monarch butterfly fan-shaped body is compartmentalized into 16 columns 79. We predict that a population of GD neurons, homologous to the ones described in this study, represents the migratory southward direction within the columns of the fan-shaped body 1, 2, 59, similar to how the HD network represents a compass of heading directions across the columns of the ellipsoid body of the central complex 3, 4, 57. By changing the compass polarity through sun displacements, we might have induced a translocation of the HD representation in the butterflies’ ellipsoid body, as it has also been demonstrated in Drosophila 3. Contrastingly, the GD representation was unaffected by compass perturbations 59. Resetting the goal direction through aversive conditioning, however, might have induced a translocation of the GD representation across the columns of the fan-shaped body. We predict that a similar translocation of the GD representation could transform the butterfly’s southward direction into a northward one in migratory monarch butterflies before departing for their remigration in spring 80. As migratory monarch butterflies substantially differ from non-migratory monarch butterflies in terms of endocrinology 68, reproduction 29, longevity 68, metabolism 73, and morphology 74, 81, 82, 83, it is fundamental to test whether these differences may also affect the neural coding of migration in monarch butterflies in the future. Here, we describe the process of larval, pupal, and adult butterfly brain removal using a video. We also provide a complete written description of the processes, with a list of necessary tools and chemicals. The dissection methods can be applied to different butterfly species, and the brains can be used for DNA or RNA extraction, or for immunostaining. We record the dissection process in the Bush brown butterfly Bicyclus anynana, which is especially interesting due to its plastic and sex-role reversed courtship behaviour [ 43, 44, 45, 46]. Individuals are also capable of learning visual and olfactory cues [ 47, 48, 49], and they can transmit the learned odour preferences to their offspring [ 48, 49]. Because the molecular basis of these unique behaviours can begin to be examined at the level of the brain, it is important to extract this organ for downstream analyses.Electric stimulation per se affected neither the orientation performance, indicated by similarly high flight precision prior to and after conditioning ( p = 0.63, R 2 = 0.015, N = 17, two-sided paired t-test, Fig. 2d), nor the directedness of the neural tuning ( p = 0.6113, W = −157, n = 65; two-sided Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-rank test; Fig. S10). We further excluded an effect of electric stimulation on the neural tuning through control experiments in which we showed that electric stimulation of central-complex neurons in restrained butterflies does not change the angular tuning ( p = 0.63, W = 1136, n = 256, two-sided Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-rank test, Fig. S11). Remove any remaining trachea by pulling gently with a curved forceps ( Figure 4G), while pressing the brain down with an insect pin or by using insect pins to scrape them off the brain tissue ( Figure 4H);

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Based on the influence of compass perturbations on the neural tuning, we classified the neurons into two types: (i) compass neurons whose angular tuning was linked to the butterflies’ heading direction, such as HD and steering neurons, and (ii) putative GD neurons whose angular tuning was not affected by compass perturbations. The classification was quantified by calculating an HD index for each neuron (for details, see “Methods”, Fig. S6). Positive HD indices were expected from compass neurons that change their angular tuning, represented by the preferred firing direction (pfd), in accordance with the butterfly’s change in mean heading (green neurons in Fig. 1h and Figs. S7a, S6a). In contrast, putative GD neurons should show negative HD indices as their angular tunings were expected to be unaffected by compass perturbations (blue neurons in Fig. 1h and Fig. S7a; Fig. S6b). In total, 55 of 113 neurons (48.7%) were classified as compass neurons (HD index: mean ± standard deviation: 0.38 ± 0.29, Fig. S6c). Their angular tuning changed after compass perturbations if visualized in an absolute frame of reference (0° represents a fixed direction in the setup; upper heatmaps in Fig. 1i). Neither variations in their action potential rate during flight nor their mean spike rate could explain the observed tuning changes ( p = 0.75, U = 1540; two-sided Mann–Whitney U test, Fig. S8). The strong association between the animal’s heading and spatial tuning of compass neurons is apparent when the neurons’ firing rate is plotted relative to the butterflies’ mean heading (0° represents the animal’s heading direction; Fig. S7b). In contrast to this, 58 neurons (51.3%) had negative HD indices (mean ± standard deviation: −0.43 ± 0.32) and might, amongst others, include neurons that represent the animal’s goal direction (lower heatmaps in Fig. 1i). The correlation between their angular tuning measured before and after compass perturbations was much higher than that of compass neurons ( p = 0.001, U = 1027, two-sided Mann–Whitney U test, Fig. 1j). Consistent with this, the pfds of putative GD neurons varied less than those of compass neurons ( p< 0.0001, U = 494, two-sided Mann–Whitney U, Fig. S7c). Moreover, the tuning of these putative GD neurons showed a higher variance of heading offsets than the compass neurons ( p = 0.0054, U = 1113, two-sided Mann–Whitney U test, Fig. 1k) indicating that their angular tuning was not linked to the coding of the butterflies’ compass. Both compass neurons and putative GD neurons fully tiled a 360° representation of angular space (compass neurons: p = 0.76; Z = 0.27; n = 55; putative GD neurons: p = 0.36; Z = 1.01; n = 58 Rayleigh test, Fig. 1l). Altogether, the compass perturbations allowed us to functionally discriminate between two types of neurons, one type that was closely associated with the heading coding (compass neurons) and another type whose spatial tuning was invariant in response to compass perturbations (putative GD neurons). Resetting the butterflies’ goal directionsWhen the developing head is completely detached from the pupa cuticle ( Figure 5H), remove the non-brain head tissue, such as the ommatidia and the facets around the visual neuropils, and the developing mouth parts on the other side of the brain. Hold the brain in place with the forceps slightly opened, while pulling the non-brain tissue away with the other hand; As with most brain tumours, it’s not known why glioblastoma multiforme tumours start growing, although we do understand some of the risk factors involved. Couto, A., Young, F. J., Atzeni, D, . . . Montgomery, S. H. (2023). Rapid expansion and visual specialisation of learning and memory centres in the brains of Heliconiini butterflies. Nature Communications 14, 4024. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-39618-8

Dissections of Larval, Pupal and Adult Butterfly Brains for

Circular statistics were performed in MATLAB and Oriana (Version 4.01, Kovach Computing Services, Anglesey, Wales, UK). Linear statistics were computed in GraphPad Prism 9 (GraphPad Software, San Diego, CA, USA). Sample sizes were not statistically pre-determined. Data distributions were tested for normality with a Shapiro–Wilk test. Normally distributed data were further analyzed with parametric statistical tests, while non-normally distributed data were tested with non-parametric tests. A Rayleigh test testing for uniformity of circular data was used to examine whether the flights were biased toward any direction. To statistically compare the angular tuning measured prior to and after compass perturbation across compass and putative GD neurons, we compared the correlation values obtained by correlating the angular tuning prior to sun displacement with the one measured after sun displacement with a two-sided unpaired t-test (Fig. 1j). Heading offsets and circular variances of pfds were statistically compared with a two-sided Mann–Whitney U test (Fig. 1k and Fig. S7c). Variations in spike rate across compass and putative GD neurons were also compared with a two-sided Mann–Whitney U test (Fig. S8). Changes in goal directions induced by aversive conditioning were statistically Chaichana KL, Jusue-Torres I, Lemos AM, Gokaslan A, Cabrera-Aldana EE, Ashary A, Olivi A, Quinones-Hinojosa A. Chaichana KL, et al. J Neurooncol. 2014 Dec;120(3):625-34. doi: 10.1007/s11060-014-1597-9. Epub 2014 Sep 6. J Neurooncol. 2014. PMID: 25193022 Free PMC article.Kristine Dziurzynski, Department of Neurosurgery, The University of Texas M.D., Anderson Cancer Center, 1400 Holcombe Blvd., Unit 442, Houston, TX 77030, USA. Due to the highly conserved nature of the central complex 1, 36, 37, 69, our results give deep insights into the general coding of goal-directed orientation in insects. Our recordings were obtained from non-migratory monarch butterflies that are closely related to the population of migratory monarch butterflies but lost their ability to migrate 70, 71. Thus, in contrast to the single (southward) goal-direction set by the population of migratory monarch butterflies, the non-migratory butterflies maintain any possible goal direction with respect to a virtual sun (menotactic orientation) 48, 53. Because non-migratory monarch butterflies demonstrate individual-specific goal directions 48, 53, we reasoned that their goal directions can be experimentally controlled, which is ideal to investigate the neural coding of goal directions. However, as non-migratory captive-reared monarch butterflies differ behaviorally 70, 71, morphologically 72, 73, 74, and physiologically 73 from migratory monarch butterflies 28, 70, 75, 76, 77, 78, ideas on how the migration behavior is encoded in the monarch butterfly brain should be read with cautious, here. The extrapyramidal motor system (rubrospinal, tectospinal, reticulospinal, and vestibulospinal tracts) originate from nuclei in the brainstem. By synapsing in the spinal cord this system controls other aspects of locomotor activity besides pure movement, such as coordination, reflexive movements and body posture. Then, scrape away the main body of the ommatidia and the basement membrane of the retina from the optic lobes, using a pair of insect pins ( Figure 4F). These tissues are darkly coloured; For a long time, scientists thought that caterpillars were reduced to pudgy mush inside the chrysalis and then rebuilt into butterflies. It was believed that enzymes that break down tissues, like caspases, were released, dissolving the caterpillar’s tissues, especially cells of the muscle and gut that weren’t needed in a butterfly.