Olfactory memory trace formation in Drosophila

这个研究项目的长期目标是阐明细胞记忆痕迹的本质， 它们的形成机制，它们的持续时间，以及它们在大脑中形成的神经元。 果蝇的嗅觉神经系统。特异性神经活动光学成像研究进展 果蝇大脑的神经元第一次允许了嗅觉记忆痕迹的可视化。 实验，将延长这些意见提出。气味的完整表现， 触角叶中的神经活动将沿着这种表征的变化而阐明 条件反射这些表征或记忆痕迹变化背后的机制将是 使用突变体和功能失活转基因的表达进行探测。那些天真的和有条件的 嗅觉神经系统的其他神经元（包括嗅鞘和嗅鞘）内发生的气味反应。 蘑菇体神经元，将使用这些相同的光学成像技术进行研究。拟议 实验将检测这些记忆痕迹，并提供有关其持久性和 对条件气味的特异性。蘑菇状体和蘑菇状体形成的机制 还将使用突变体和功能失活转基因来探测神经元记忆痕迹。的 假设多巴胺能神经元将非条件刺激传递到蘑菇体神经元， 通过检查对非条件刺激和条件刺激的多巴胺能反应进行测试。最后，比较 将在嗅觉神经系统中形成的细胞记忆痕迹之间进行， 非条件刺激和食欲非条件刺激具有相同的气味条件刺激。这些 实验将大大增加我们对记忆如何形成的理解， 潜在地扰乱正常的存储器形成。这将有助于我们了解影响 记忆形成

The long-term goals of this research project are to elucidate the nature of cellular memory traces, the mechanisms underlying their formation, their duration, and the neurons in which they form within the Drosophila olfactory nervous system. Recent advances in optical imaging of neural activity in specific neurons of the fly's brain have allowed for the visualization of an olfactory memory trace for the first time. Experiments that will extend these observations are proposed. The complete representation of odors by neural activity in the antennal lobe will be elucidated along with the changes in this representation that occur with conditioning. The mechanisms underlying these changes in representation, or memory traces, will be probed using mutants and the expression of functionally inactivating transgenes. The naive and conditioned odorant responses that occur within other neurons of the olfactory nervous system, including the DPM and mushroom body neurons, will be studied using these same optical imaging techniques. The proposed experiments will detect these memory traces, and provide knowledge about their persistence and their specificity to conditioned odors. The mechanisms underlying the formation of DPM and mushroom body neuron memory traces will also be probed using mutants and functionally inactivating transgenes. The hypothesis that dopaminergic neurons convey the unconditioned stimulus to mushroom body neurons will be tested by examining dopaminergic responses to unconditioned and conditioned stimuli. Finally, comparisons will be made between the cellular memory traces that form in the olfactory nervous system using aversive unconditioned stimuli and appetitive unconditioned stimuli with the same odor conditioned stimulus. These experiments will significantly increase our understanding of how memories form and the events that can potentially perturb normal memory formation. This will aid in our understanding of the diseases that affect memory formation.