Electrical synapses mediate visual orientation behavior.

Electrical synapses via innexin Shaking B in LC17 neurons are essential for visual object tracking during flight in Drosophila melanogaster.

• Why it matters: Understanding how neural circuits mediate rapid visual orientation behaviors is crucial, as these processes are fundamental for survival but remain poorly characterized at the circuit level.
• What they did: The study used in vivo optical physiology and virtual reality behavior assays to show that LC17 neurons are broadly tuned to visual objects and require electrical synapses formed by Shaking B for proper function, with ShakB knockdown impairing visual responses and saccadic orientation.
• The result: This work uncovers that electrical synapses are critical for object detection and rapid action selection in visual orientation, emphasizing the interplay between electrical and chemical neurotransmission in neural circuits.