@article {1788, title = {Imaging brain activity during complex social behaviors in Drosophila with Flyception2.}, journal = {Nat Commun}, volume = {11}, year = {2020}, month = {2020 01 30}, pages = {623}, abstract = {

Optical in vivo recordings from freely walking Drosophila are currently possible only for limited behaviors. Here, we expand the range of accessible behaviors with a retroreflective marker-based tracking and ratiometric brain imaging system, permitting brain activity imaging even in copulating male flies. We discover that P1 neurons, active during courtship, are inactive during copulation, whereas GABAergic mAL neurons remain active during copulation, suggesting a countervailing role of mAL in opposing P1 activity during mating.

}, keywords = {Animals, Brain, Copulation, Courtship, Drosophila, Drosophila Proteins, Female, GABAergic Neurons, Male, Neuroimaging, Neurons, Olfactory Cortex, Sexual Behavior, Animal, Social Behavior}, issn = {2041-1723}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-020-14487-7}, author = {Grover, Dhruv and Katsuki, Takeo and Li, Jinfang and Dawkins, Thomas J and Greenspan, Ralph J} } @article {163, title = {Genes involved in sex pheromone discrimination in Drosophila melanogaster and their background-dependent effect.}, journal = {PLoS One}, volume = {7}, year = {2012}, month = {2012}, pages = {e30799}, abstract = {

Mate choice is based on the comparison of the sensory quality of potential mating partners, and sex pheromones play an important role in this process. In Drosophila melanogaster, contact pheromones differ between male and female in their content and in their effects on male courtship, both inhibitory and stimulatory. To investigate the genetic basis of sex pheromone discrimination, we experimentally selected males showing either a higher or lower ability to discriminate sex pheromones over 20 generations. This experimental selection was carried out in parallel on two different genetic backgrounds: wild-type and desat1 mutant, in which parental males showed high and low sex pheromone discrimination ability respectively. Male perception of male and female pheromones was separately affected during the process of selection. A comparison of transcriptomic activity between high and low discrimination lines revealed genes not only that varied according to the starting genetic background, but varied reciprocally. Mutants in two of these genes, Shaker and quick-to-court, were capable of producing similar effects on discrimination on their own, in some instances mimicking the selected lines, in others not. This suggests that discrimination of sex pheromones depends on genes whose activity is sensitive to genetic context and provides a rare, genetically defined example of the phenomenon known as "allele flips," in which interactions have reciprocal effects on different genetic backgrounds.

}, keywords = {Animals, Animals, Genetically Modified, Behavior, Animal, Breeding, Courtship, Drosophila melanogaster, Female, Genes, Insect, Male, Mutation, Olfactory Perception, Reproduction, Sex Attractants, Sexual Behavior, Animal, Species Specificity}, issn = {1932-6203}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0030799}, author = {Houot, Benjamin and Fraichard, St{\'e}phane and Greenspan, Ralph J and Ferveur, Jean-Fran{\c c}ois} } @article {147, title = {Dopaminergic modulation of arousal in Drosophila.}, journal = {Curr Biol}, volume = {15}, year = {2005}, month = {2005 Jul 12}, pages = {1165-75}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Arousal levels in the brain set thresholds for behavior, from simple to complex. The mechanistic underpinnings of the various phenomena comprising arousal, however, are still poorly understood. Drosophila behaviors have been studied that span different levels of arousal, from sleep to visual perception to psychostimulant responses.

RESULTS: We have investigated neurobiological mechanisms of arousal in the Drosophila brain by a combined behavioral, genetic, pharmacological, and electrophysiological approach. Administration of methamphetamine (METH) suppresses sleep and promotes active wakefulness, whereas an inhibitor of dopamine synthesis promotes sleep. METH affects courtship behavior by increasing sexual arousal while decreasing successful sexual performance. Electrophysiological recordings from the medial protocerebrum of wild-type flies showed that METH ingestion has rapid and detrimental effects on a brain response associated with perception of visual stimuli. Recordings in genetically manipulated animals show that dopaminergic transmission is required for these responses and that visual-processing deficits caused by attenuated dopaminergic transmission can be rescued by METH.

CONCLUSIONS: We show that changes in dopamine levels differentially affect arousal for behaviors of varying complexity. Complex behaviors, such as visual perception, degenerate when dopamine levels are either too high or too low, in accordance with the inverted-U hypothesis of dopamine action in the mammalian brain. Simpler behaviors, such as sleep and locomotion, show graded responses that follow changes in dopamine level.

}, keywords = {Animals, Animals, Genetically Modified, Arousal, Brain, Dopa Decarboxylase, Dopamine, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, Drosophila, Drosophila Proteins, Dynamins, Electrophysiology, Methamphetamine, Mutation, Sexual Behavior, Animal, Sleep, Visual Perception}, issn = {0960-9822}, doi = {10.1016/j.cub.2005.05.025}, author = {Andretic, Rozi and van Swinderen, Bruno and Greenspan, Ralph J} } @article {154, title = {Genetic feminization of brain structures and changed sexual orientation in male Drosophila.}, journal = {Science}, volume = {267}, year = {1995}, month = {1995 Feb 10}, pages = {902-5}, abstract = {

The neural basis of sexual orientation in Drosophila was studied by the production of males with regionally feminized brains. Such flies express the female form of the sex determination gene transformer in a limited number of neurons under the control of GAL4 enhancer trap inserts. This method facilitated the creation of lines with a stable pattern of feminization. In tests of sexual preferences, flies that were feminized in a portion of the antennal lobes or in a subset of the corpora pedunculata (mushroom bodies) courted both males and females. These two brain structures, both of which are involved in olfactory processing, may function in the recognition of sex-specific pheromones, in the control of sex-specific behaviors, or both.

}, keywords = {Animals, Bisexuality, Brain, Drosophila melanogaster, Female, Genes, Insect, Male, Sex Attractants, Sexual Behavior, Animal, Smell}, issn = {0036-8075}, author = {Ferveur, J F and St{\"o}rtkuhl, K F and Stocker, R F and Greenspan, R J} } @article {155, title = {Understanding the genetic construction of behavior.}, journal = {Sci Am}, volume = {272}, year = {1995}, month = {1995 Apr}, pages = {72-8}, keywords = {Animals, Drosophila melanogaster, Female, Genetics, Behavioral, Humans, Male, Sexual Behavior, Animal}, issn = {0036-8733}, author = {Greenspan, R J} }