Regulation of Lateral Neuron function in Drosophila larvae

描述(申请人提供)：所有高等生物都会处理来自环境的感官信号，并相应地调整它们的行为以求生存。了解感觉处理的神经回路是神经科学的一个基本目标，这将有助于理解许多人类疾病的基础。果蝇特别容易进行这样的研究，最近开发的遗传工具允许精确操纵基因和神经回路。到目前为止，已知的关于昼夜节律行为和视觉系统组织的大部分知识都来自于对果蝇的研究。这一建议利用了一种定义明确的幼虫避光分析来绘制视觉行为背后的神经回路。避光需要外侧神经元(LNS)的功能，最初的研究是因为它们是昼夜节律的中枢神经元。这种行为分析的简单性和健壮性，加上幼虫大脑的减少的复杂性，使其成为绘制行为潜在神经回路图的理想系统。通过对视觉神经元、LN和潜在的LN靶神经元的遗传操作，这一建议试图确定将视觉线索传递到更高阶脑结构的精确回路和神经递质。了解LNS控制避光的机制应该会为神经回路如何控制行为提供有价值的见解。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): All higher organisms process sensory cues from the environment and adjust their behavior accordingly in order to survive. Understanding the neural circuits that underlie sensory processing is a fundamental aim of neuroscience, and will help in understanding the basis of many human diseases. Drosophila is particularly amenable to such study and recently developed genetic tools allow for precise manipulation of genes and neural circuits. To date, much of what is known of circadian behavior and visual system organization comes from work in Drosophila. This proposal utilizes a well-defined light avoidance assay in larvae to map the neural circuitry underlying visual behavior. Light avoidance requires function of the lateral neurons (LNs), which have been primarily studied for their role as neurons central to circadian rhythms. The simplicity and robustness of this behavioral assay, in combination with the diminished complexity of the larval brain makes this an ideal system for the mapping of neural circuits underlying behavior. Through genetic manipulation of visual neurons, LNs, and potential LN target neurons, this proposal seeks to determine the precise circuitry and neurotransmitters by which visual cues are transmitted to higher order brain structures. Understanding the mechanism by which LNs govern light avoidance should provide valuable insight into how neural circuits control behavior.