Measuring neural correlates of insect escape behaviors using a miniature telemetry system

The firing patterns of visual neurons tracking approaching objects need to be translated into appropriate motor activation sequences to generate escape behaviors. Locusts possess an identified neuron highly sensitive to approaching objects (looming stimuli), thought to play an important role in collision avoidance through its motor projections. Although the sensory and motor side of the system have been studied extensively in the past, an integrative study of the sensory-motor transformations underlying escape behaviors has been missing. Furthermore, such sensory-motor transformations can best be studied by instant monitoring of the brain's visual and motor activities in freely behaving locusts, which has been a challenging feat because of the insect's small size. Here we present a miniature telemetry system and its use for acquiring neural, muscle, and acceleration data from a freely escaping locust.