Pursuit in virtual worlds – visual motion processing in the zebrafish brain

Perception of visual motion is of fundamental importance in order to safely move around and to skillfully reach and grasp objects. When using visual input to control goal-directed motion, our brain makes a decision to select the object of greatest salience in the visual field in order to steer the eyes, the head and the hand towards it. Even the small zebrafish larva exhibits a complex goal-directed behavior thanks to its refined visual system. Research at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research now reveals how motion stimuli are processed in the brain of this little hunter.