Open AccessSuppression of a single pair of mushroom body output neurons in Drosophila triggers aversive associations
Author(s) -
Ueoka Yutaro,
Hiroi Makoto,
Abe Takashi,
Tabata Tetsuya
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
febs open bio
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.718
H-Index - 31
ISSN - 2211-5463
DOI - 10.1002/2211-5463.12203
Subject(s) - mushroom bodies , drosophila (subgenus) , mushroom , biology , drosophila melanogaster , neuroscience , genetics , microbiology and biotechnology , botany , gene
Memory includes the processes of acquisition, consolidation and retrieval. In the study of aversive olfactory memory in Drosophila melanogaster , flies are first exposed to an odor (conditioned stimulus, CS +) that is associated with an electric shock (unconditioned stimulus, US ), then to another odor ( CS −) without the US , before allowing the flies to choose to avoid one of the two odors. The center for memory formation is the mushroom body which consists of Kenyon cells ( KC s), dopaminergic neurons ( DAN s) and mushroom body output neurons ( MBON s). However, the roles of individual neurons are not fully understood. We focused on the role of a single pair of GABA ergic neurons ( MBON ‐γ1pedc) and found that it could inhibit the effects of DAN s, resulting in the suppression of aversive memory acquisition during the CS − odor presentation, but not during the CS + odor presentation. We propose that MBON ‐γ1pedc suppresses the DAN ‐dependent effect that can convey the aversive US during the CS − odor presentation, and thereby prevents an insignificant stimulus from becoming an aversive US .