A Comparative approach in Drosophila larvae to identify the neuronal circuits signaling punishment and reward in associative olfactory learning

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Learning and memory is not an attribute of higher organisms. Even simple animals like Drosophila larvae are able to evaluate odors based on previous experience, which can either be positive, i.e. rewarding (sugar, moderate heat) or negative, punishing (electric shock, high salt concentration). Yet, how perception and processing of sensory information affects behavioral decisions is not well understood in any organism. Therefore the Drosophila larva, which includes no more than 3,000 functional neurons and still displays a considerable behavioral repertoire, serves as a particularly suited model for studying the basis of learning and memory. A comparative analysis of olfactory learning reinforced by gustatory, temperature and electric stimuli will therefore help to identify the general but also the specific requirements of neuronal plasticity from the cellular and molecular up to the behavioral level. In detail, we will pursue three general projects: generation of an open-source database for larval expression patterns; establishment of Calcium-imaging for the larval sensory system and higher brain areas; automating of larval olfactory learning experiments. Specifically we will analyze: How do larvae associate smell with “good” and “bad” cues on the behavioral, neuronal circuits and memory center level? Do olfactory memories persist during metamorphosis? And how does Lithium chloride enhance the acquisition as well as the retrieval of larval olfactory memory?