scholarly journals Action-based attention in Drosophila melanogaster

2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (6) ◽  
pp. 2428-2432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Frighetto ◽  
Mauro A. Zordan ◽  
Umberto Castiello ◽  
Aram Megighian
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Visual Target ◽  
Motor Program ◽  
Action Selection ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Fundamental Process ◽  
Directed Action ◽  
Selection For ◽  
First Time ◽  
Selection For Action

The mechanism of action selection is a widely shared fundamental process required by animals to interact with the environment and adapt to it. A key step in this process is the filtering of the “distracting” sensory inputs that may disturb action selection. Because it has been suggested that, in principle, action selection may also be processed by shared circuits in vertebrate and invertebrates, we wondered whether invertebrates show the ability to filter out “distracting” stimuli during a goal-directed action, as seen in vertebrates. In this experiment, action selection was studied in wild-type Drosophila melanogaster by investigating their reaction to the abrupt appearance of a visual distractor during an ongoing locomotor action directed to a visual target. We found that when the distractor was present, flies tended to shift the original trajectory toward it, thus acknowledging its presence, but they did not fully commit to it, suggesting that an inhibition process took place to continue the unfolding of the planned goal-directed action. To some extent flies appeared to take into account and represent motorically the distractor, but they did not engage in a complete change of their initial motor program in favor of the distractor. These results provide interesting insights into the selection-for-action mechanism, in a context requiring action-centered attention, that might have appeared rather early in the course of evolution. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Action selection and maintenance of a goal-directed action require animals to ignore irrelevant “distracting” stimuli that might elicit alternative motor programs. In this study we observed, in Drosophila melanogaster, a top-down mechanism inhibiting the response toward salient stimuli, to accomplish a goal-directed action. These data highlight, for the first time in an invertebrate organism, that the action-based attention shown by higher organisms, such as humans and nonhuman primates, might have an ancestral origin.

scholarly journals Studies on The Scutellar Bristles of Drosophila Melanogaster I. Basic Variability, Some Temperature and Culture Effects, and Responses to Short-Term Selection in the Oregon-Rc Strain

1968 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 721 ◽  
Author(s):  
BL Sheldon
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Major Gene ◽  
Selection Response ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Selection ◽  
Bristle Number ◽  
Selection For ◽  
High Selection ◽  
Culture Effects

The results of short runs of disruptive and high selection for scutellar bristles in wild-type Drosophila are explained in terms of the hypothesis that canalization at four bristles is due to regulation of the major gene in the developmental system (Rendel, Sheldon, and Finlay 1965). Selection response has probably been due to selection for modifier (minor) genes rather than for isoalleles of the major gene or weak regulator alleles. Some environmental effects on the character, short runs of selection for low bristle number or different bristle types, and effects of relaxing selection are also reported.

Chromatin structure of a P-element-transduced hsp-28 gene in Drosophila melanogaster

1986 ◽  
Vol 6 (11) ◽  
pp. 4126-4129
Author(s):  
J C Eissenberg ◽  
S C Elgin
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Chromatin Structure ◽  
Dnase I ◽  
P Element ◽  
Direct Selection ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Dnase I Hypersensitive Sites ◽  
Hypersensitive Sites ◽  
Selection For

The Drosophila hsp-28 gene was heat inducible when transduced to novel chromosomal sites even when no direct selection for transduced gene expression was imposed. The pattern of DNase I-hypersensitive sites 5' to the wild type and transduced copy of hsp-28 was similar. In addition, DNase I-hypersensitive sites occurred within the P-element sequences flanking transduced loci.

scholarly journals Long-term selection for a quantitative character in large replicate populations ofDrosophila melanogaster: II. Lethals and visible mutants with large effects

1980 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. H. Yoo
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Mutation Rate ◽  
Quantitative Character ◽  
Frequency Of Occurrence ◽  
Term Selection ◽  
Bristle Number ◽  
Selection For ◽  
First Time ◽  
G 14

SUMMARYLethal frequencies on the second and third chromosomes were estimated three times in six replicate lines ofDrosophila melanogasterselected for increased abdominal bristle number, at G 14–16, G 37–44 and G 79. Ten lethals were detected at a frequency of about 5% or higher at G 14–16, of which only one recurred in subsequent tests. Another ten lethals which had not been detected previously were found at G 37–44, and the 5 most frequent ones recurred at G 79. In the last test, 15 presumably new lethals were detected, of which at least 4 appeared well established. In addition, six reversions (fromsctosc+), a new mutant at the scute locus andscawere discovered. The effects on the selected character of some lethals and visible mutants were large and variable, but not always sufficient to explain the observed frequencies. The major lethals detected at G 37–44 and G 79 for the first time were most probably ‘mutations’ (in the broad sense) which occurred during selection. The likely origins of such ‘mutations’ were discussed, with a suggestion that the known mutation rate for recessive lethals would not be incompatible with the observed frequency of occurrence of the ‘mutations’.

scholarly journals Selection for and against a canalized phenotype in Drosophila melanogaster

1967 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. S. Y. Young
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Lower Proportion ◽  
Modifier Genes ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Appreciable Change ◽  
Bristle Number ◽  
Alternative Hypotheses ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Selection For ◽  
Relative Change

Selection for and against the canalized phenotype in scutellar bristles was attempted in two selection lines and a randomly selected line was used as control. The selection lines were the Decanalization line (D) and the Canalization line (N). The D line was maintained by matings of scute males (scwbl) with three scutellars with wild-type females (scwbl/yw) with five bristles, in the N line scute males with four bristles were mated with wild-type females also with four bristles, while in the C line males and females of the above genotypes were selected at random. The lines were established from a sample of flies taken from a line selected for high scutellar numbers.After eighteen generations of selection the C line was characterized by a regression of mean bristle number without appreciable change in variance. Relative to the N line, the D population showed a lower proportion of flies having four scutellars, a higher variance in bristle numbers, and a higher proportion of four-bristle scute flies having abnormal patterns.Two alternative hypotheses were advanced to account for the results of this experiment. The first postulated a relative change in the widths of the four-bristle canalization zones in the selection lines, while the second suggested a relative change in frequencies of specific modifier genes for scutellars in scute and in wild-type genotypes of the lines. The evidence favours the latter hypothesis.

scholarly journals Chromatin structure of a P-element-transduced hsp-28 gene in Drosophila melanogaster.

1986 ◽  
Vol 6 (11) ◽  
pp. 4126-4129 ◽  
Author(s):  
J C Eissenberg ◽  
S C Elgin
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Chromatin Structure ◽  
Dnase I ◽  
P Element ◽  
Direct Selection ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Dnase I Hypersensitive Sites ◽  
Hypersensitive Sites ◽  
Selection For

The Drosophila hsp-28 gene was heat inducible when transduced to novel chromosomal sites even when no direct selection for transduced gene expression was imposed. The pattern of DNase I-hypersensitive sites 5' to the wild type and transduced copy of hsp-28 was similar. In addition, DNase I-hypersensitive sites occurred within the P-element sequences flanking transduced loci.

scholarly journals Selection for Canalization of the Scute Phenotype in Drosophila Melanogaster

1960 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 36 ◽  
Author(s):  
JM Rendel ◽  
BL Sheldon
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Bristle Number ◽  
Selection For ◽  
High Selection

Selection for low variance of scutellar bristle number in scute flies resulted in canalization about a mean of two bristles. Selection for high variance appeared ineffective. The sensitivity of high selection lines to changes in temperature at which the flies were reared was much greater than the sensitivity of the low selection lines and the sensitivity of wild�type cultures.

scholarly journals Reaching movements are attracted by stimuli that signal reward

2020 ◽  
Vol 82 (8) ◽  
pp. 3804-3810
Author(s):  
Tom Nissens ◽  
Katja Fiehler
Keyword(s):  
Action Selection ◽  
Short Latency ◽  
Reaching Movements ◽  
Movement Trajectory ◽  
Salient Stimulus ◽  
Selection For ◽  
Selection For Action

Abstract When presented with a set of possible reach targets, the movement trajectory can reveal aspects of the underlying competition for action selection. Current goals and physical salience can affect the trajectory of reaching movements to be attracted towards a distractor. Some studies demonstrated that stimuli associated with reward can also cause an attraction when reaching towards the reward stimulus was previously rewarded and the reward stimulus was physically salient. Here we demonstrate that a non-salient stimulus that signals the availability of reward attracts reaching movements even when moving towards it was never necessary nor rewarded. Moreover, the attraction by reward is particularly evident with short-latency movements. We conclude that neither physical salience nor reinforcing the movement towards a stimulus is necessary for reward to gain priority in the selection for action.

scholarly journals Studies in Artificial Selection of Quantitative Characters I. Selection for Abdominal Bristles in Drosophila Melanogaster

1963 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 490 ◽  
Author(s):  
BL Sheldon
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Artificial Selection ◽  
Mass Selection ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Diallel Crosses ◽  
Laboratory Stock ◽  
Quantitative Characters ◽  
Selection For ◽  
Selection Of

Genetic and phenotypic parameters for number of abdominal bristles were estimated from diallel crosses in a wild-type laboratory stock, Oregon-Reo Two replicate mass selection lines in both high and low directions were developed and run for over 30 generations. The same parameters were estimated from dianel ~rosses at intervals during the experiment.

scholarly journals Mechanisms of selection for the control of action in Drosophila melanogaster

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Frighetto ◽  
Mauro A. Zordan ◽  
Umberto Castiello ◽  
Aram Megighian
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Neural Circuits ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Central Complex ◽  
Visual Distractor ◽  
Action Mechanisms ◽  
Original Target ◽  
Selection For ◽  
Selection For Action

ABSTRACTIn the last few years several studies have investigated the neural mechanisms underlying spatial orientation in Drosophila melanogaster. Convergent results suggest that this mechanism is associated with specific neural circuits located within the Central Complex (CC). Furthermore such circuits appear to be associated with visual attention, specifically with selective attention processes implicated in the control of action. Our aim was to understand how wild-type flies react to the abrupt appearance of a visual distractor during an ongoing locomotor action. Thus, we adapted the well-known ‘Buridan paradigm’, used to study walking behaviour in flies, so we could specifically address the mechanisms involved in action selection. We found that flies tended to react in one of two ways when confronted with a visual distractor during ongoing locomotion. Flies either: (i) committed to a new path situated midway between the original target and the distractor, consistent with a novelty effect; or (ii) remained on the original trajectory with a slight deviation in direction of the distractor. We believe that these results provide the first indication of how flies react, from the motor point of view, in a bi-stable context requiring the presence of selection-for-action mechanisms. Some considerations on the neural circuits underlying such behavioural responses are advanced.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document