Visual place learning in Drosophila melanogaster

Tyler A. Ofstad, Charles S. Zuker () and Michael B. Reiser ()
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Tyler A. Ofstad: Janelia Farm Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 19700 Helix Drive, Ashburn, Virginia 20147, USA
Charles S. Zuker: Janelia Farm Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 19700 Helix Drive, Ashburn, Virginia 20147, USA
Michael B. Reiser: Janelia Farm Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 19700 Helix Drive, Ashburn, Virginia 20147, USA

Nature, 2011, vol. 474, issue 7350, 204-207

Abstract: A fruitfly knows its place Insects such as ants or bees are renowned for their navigational prowess, which in part derives from their ability to learn and associate visual cues to locations in space. Now Charles Zuker and colleagues demonstrate that a powerful model organism — Drosophila melanogaster — is also capable of using vision to form spatial memories. By genetically silencing specific neurons, they then show that such spatial learning relies on a brain centre (the ellipsoid body) which is distinct from that used for non-spatial learning (the mushroom body). This work could lead to Drosophila becoming a model of choice for the study of spatial memory.

Date: 2011
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DOI: 10.1038/nature10131

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