A split attractor design for rapidly writing a navigational goal.

Disinhibition enables rapid switching of persistent activity in a fly navigation circuit, with h∆K neurons maintaining heading memory during goal-directed behavior.

• Why it matters: Understanding how recurrent attractor networks can be quickly activated and deactivated is crucial for deciphering working memory mechanisms and adaptive navigation in animals.
• What they did: The study combined whole-cell recordings and computational modeling of the fly's navigation center, focusing on h∆K and PFG neurons, to explore their synaptic dynamics and activity patterns during behavior.
• The result: Findings show that inhibition controls the decoupling and coupling of neuron populations, allowing rapid writing of heading information into the circuit, which advances our understanding of neural gating in working memory systems.