Work

Force sensing in small animals: recording response properties and modeling of tibial campaniform sensilla in blow flies

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Force sensing is advantageous in walking and can signal leg slipping that could destabilize support of body weight, prior to changes in body position. Recordings of strain-detecting campaniform sensilla in blow fly legs showed force encoding in ranges reflecting their minimal body weight but firing was also inhibited by very small transient force decreases. A mathematical model of the receptors reproduced these characteristics and could aid in control of walking machines, independent of size and mass.

Source: Journal of Neurophysiology

DOI: 10.1152/jn.00044.2025

Authors: Sasha N. Zill, Sumaiya Chaudhry, Hibba Chaudhry, Nicholas Szczecinski

Institutions: Marshall University, West Virginia University

Language: English

Topic: Neurobiology and Insect Physiology Research

Subfield: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: bronze

Funder: National Science Foundation

Award: CRCNS Research Project: Collaborative Research: Experimental, Numerical, and Robotic Study of the Role of Dynamic Load Sensing in Legged Locomotion