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Drosophila learning and memory: Recent progress and new approaches
Author(s) -
Belvin Marcia P.,
Yin Jerry C. P.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
bioessays
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.175
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1521-1878
pISSN - 0265-9247
DOI - 10.1002/bies.950191207
Subject(s) - drosophila (subgenus) , neuroscience , memory consolidation , computer science , biology , field (mathematics) , cognitive science , organism , memory formation , model organism , aplysia , psychology , gene , genetics , mathematics , hippocampus , pure mathematics
The processes of learning and memory have traditionally been studied in large experimental organisms ( Aplysia , mice, rats and humans), where well‐characterized behaviors are easily tested. Although Drosophila is one of the most experimentally tractable organisms, it has only recently joined the others as a model organism for learning and memory. Drosophila behavior has been studied for over 20 years; however, most of the work in the learning and memory field has focused on initial learning, because establishing memory in Drosophila has not been as straightforward as in other organisms. A major recent advance in this field has been the development of a training protocol that induces long‐term memory in flies. This made possible experiments that implicated the Drosophila CREB gene as a critical component in the consolidation of long‐term memory, and paves the way for future experiments utilizing the well developed tools in Drosophila . This review will briefly summarize what is known in the field of Drosophila learning and memory to date, and discuss why the unique aspects of this field make traditional approaches difficult and reward the use of alternative paths of experimentation.