Proprioceptive limit detectors mediate sensorimotor control of the Drosophila leg

The datasets in this repository were used to reveal that hair plate
proprioceptors on the legs of fruit flies are limit detectors that
reflexively transition the direction of leg movement. We first collected a
calcium imaging dataset to characterize the joint angle encoding
properties of one hair plate on the fly coxa, referred to as CxHP8. We
then used an electron microscopy dataset of a female ventral nerve cord
(FANC) to predict the role of CxHP8 neurons in leg motor control based on
their direct and indirect connectivity with motor neurons. We validated
the predictions derived from the connectome by collecting and analyzing
datasets where we optogenetically activated CxHP8 neurons in standing
flies and silenced CxHP8 neurons in behaving flies. Additionally, we
collected datasets in which flies walked on an actuated treadmill and
found that chronic silencing of CxHP8 neurons lead to impaired walking
kinematics and resting posture. Having supported the sensorimotor control
prediction of CxHP8 neurons, we returned back to the connectome to predict
the role of each hair plate on the fly leg in controlling leg movement.