A neural circuit mediating altitude control in Drosophila.

Activating the bilaterally paired descending neuron DNa10 in Drosophila melanogaster drives descent by reducing upward force, while silencing or ablating it elicits fictive ascent.

• Why it matters: Flight altitude regulation requires transforming self-motion cues into motor patterns that adjust lift, but the specific neural circuit elements linking sensory motion to aerodynamic control were unclear.
• What they did: The authors combined optogenetic screening of sparse descending-neuron driver lines, high-speed videography, two-photon imaging, robotics, and connectomics to test DNa10 and map its visual inputs and wing-motor outputs.
• The result: DNa10 is activated by downward visual motion and inhibited by upward motion, receives monosynaptic input from large-field visual interneurons, and directly outputs to three wing motor neurons regulating lift.

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