It is imperative that an animal has the ability to contextually integrate received sensory information to formulate appropriate behavioral responses. Determining a body heading based on a multitude of ego-motion cues and visual landmarks is an example of such a task that requires this context dependent integration. The work presented here simulates a sensory integrator in the insect brain called the central complex (CX). Based on the architecture of the CX, we assembled a dynamical neural simulation of two structures called the protocerebral bridge (PB) and the ellipsoid body (EB). Using non-spiking neuronal dynamics, our simulation was able to recreate in vivo neuronal behavior such as correlating body rotation direction and speed to activity bumps within the EB as well as updating the believed heading with quick secondary system updates. With this model, we performed sensitivity analysis of certain neuronal parameters as a possible means to control multi-system gains during sensory integration. We found that modulation of synapses in the memory network and EB inhibition are two possible mechanisms in which a sensory system could affect the memory stability and gain of another input, respectively. This model serves as an exploration in network design for integrating simultaneous idiothetic and allothetic cues in the task of body tracking and determining contextually dependent behavioral outputs.

How we interact with our environment largely depends on both the external cues presented by our surroundings and the internal state from within. Internal states are the ever-changing physiological conditions that communicate the immediate survival needs and motivate the animal to behaviorally fulfill them. Satiety level constitutes such a state, and therefore has a dynamic influence on the output behaviors of an animal. In predatory insects like the praying mantis, hunting tactics, grooming, and mating have been shown to change hierarchical organization of behaviors depending on satiety. Here, we analyze behavior sequences of freely hunting praying mantises (Tenodera sinensis) to explore potential differences in sequential patterning of behavior as a correlate of satiety. First, our data supports previous work that showed starved praying mantises were not just more often attentive to prey, but also more often attentive to further prey. This was indicated by the increased time fraction spent in attentive bouts such as prey monitoring, head turns (to track prey), translations (closing the distance to the prey), and more strike attempts. With increasing satiety, praying mantises showed reduced time in these behaviors and exhibited them primarily towards close-proximity prey. Furthermore, our data demonstrates that during states of starvation, the praying mantis exhibits a stereotyped pattern of behavior that is highly motivated by prey capture. As satiety increased, the sequenced behaviors became more variable, indicating a shift away from the necessity of prey capture to more fluid presentations of behavior assembly.

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