Editing Halteres (section)

===Neurophysiology===

When halteres are experimentally induced to flap, volleys of [[action potential]]s within the [[haltere#haltere nerve|haltere nerve]] occur in synchrony with the haltere-beat frequency.<ref name="Pringle 1948" /> When flies are then rotated, these volleys break down, likely in response to different groups of [[sensillum|sensilla]] being activated to inform the fly of its recently changed body position. Haltere [[afferent nerve fiber|afferents]] have also been shown to terminate in the [[mesothorax|mesothoracic]] [[neuropil]] where flight muscle neurons are located.<ref name="Chan 1998" /> Haltere afferent activity responding to rotations and wing steering behavior converge in this processing region.<ref name="Chan 1998" />

====The haltere nerve====

[[sensory neuron|Sensory inputs]] from five sensory fields located at the base of the haltere all converge onto one nerve, the haltere nerve. How these sensory fields are organized at the level of the central nervous system is currently unknown. It has been determined that those five sensory fields all project to the thorax in a "region-specific" way and afferents originating from the forewing were also shown to converge in the same regions. Not every specific target for the haltere afferents have been determined, but a few connections between [[motor neuron]]s known to be involved in wing steering control and particular haltere sensory fields have been identified, particularly one synapse between the haltere nerve and a wing steering motor neuron known as mnb1.<ref name="Chan 1998" /><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Fayyazuddin|first1=A|last2=Dickinson|first2=MH|title=Haltere afferents provide direct, electrotonic input to a steering motor neuron in the blowfly, Calliphora |journal=The Journal of Neuroscience|date=15 August 1996|volume=16|issue=16|pages=5225–32|pmid=8756451|pmc=6579303|doi=10.1523/JNEUROSCI.16-16-05225.1996}}</ref>