A Tau Emerald dragonfly (Hemicordulia tau) in mid flight. Photo by Fir0002/Flagstaffotos, via Wikimedia Commons.
In a discovery that may prove important for cognitive science, our understanding of nature and applications for robot vision, researchers at the University of Adelaide have found evidence that the dragonfly is capable of higher-level thought processes when hunting its prey.
The discovery, to be published online today in the journal Current Biology, is the first evidence that an invertebrate animal has brain cells for selective attention, which has so far only been demonstrated in primates.
Dr Steven Wiederman and Associate Professor David O’Carroll from the University of Adelaide’s Centre for Neuroscience Research have been studying insect vision for many years.
Using a tiny glass probe with a tip that is only 60 nanometres wide – 1500 times smaller than the width of a human hair – the researchers have discovered neuron activity in the dragonfly’s brain that enables this selective attention.