Speaker
Description
Animals need to integrate external and internal information to inform navigational decisions during foraging. We showed that fly larvae switch from odor avoidance to odor attraction when food-deprived. This behavioral switch is mediated via increased serotonin release within the larval antennal lobe. We identified further that attractive odors can become more attractive in food-deprived larvae and that this enhancement in odor preference is also mediated via serotonin across different odors. We are investigating which specific serotonergic cell types are involved in the attractive enhancement phenotype. Within the antennal lobe, we screen for the requirement of olfactory processing neurons in the different behavioral states.
We have also established this enhancement phenotype in other innately attractive odours, corresponding to different olfactory receptors and receptor neurons. This suggests a potentially common mechanism which could have further implications given that the different odours signify distinct aspects of the larval environment.
In future experiments, we plan to compare the state-dependent activity levels of these cells in response to attractive odors, using a microfluidics device to immobilize fly larvae. Understanding the neural circuit plasticity underlying state-dependent processing across odors with different values in fly larvae will allow us to reveal general mechanisms that allow for flexible responses across phyla.
