scholarly journals Targeted manipulation of neuronal activity in behaving adult flies

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefanie Hampel ◽  
Andrew Michael Seeds
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Neuronal Activity ◽  
Neural Circuits ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Fruit Fly ◽  
Specific Behavior ◽  
Freely Behaving ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Circuit Function

The ability to control the activity of specific neurons in freely behaving animals provides an effective way to probe the contributions of neural circuits to behavior. Wide interest in studying principles of neural circuit function using the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster has fueled the construction of an extensive transgenic toolkit for performing such neural manipulations. Here we describe approaches for using these tools to manipulate the activity of specific neurons and assess how those manipulations impact the behavior of flies. We also describe methods for examining connectivity among multiple neurons that together form a neural circuit controlling a specific behavior. This work provides a resource for researchers interested in examining how neurons and neural circuits contribute to the rich repertoire of behaviors performed by flies.

scholarly journals Targeted manipulation of neuronal activity in behaving adult flies

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefanie Hampel ◽  
Andrew Michael Seeds
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Neuronal Activity ◽  
Neural Circuits ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Fruit Fly ◽  
Specific Behavior ◽  
Freely Behaving ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Circuit Function

The ability to control the activity of specific neurons in freely behaving animals provides an effective way to probe the contributions of neural circuits to behavior. Wide interest in studying principles of neural circuit function using the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster has fueled the construction of an extensive transgenic toolkit for performing such neural manipulations. Here we describe approaches for using these tools to manipulate the activity of specific neurons and assess how those manipulations impact the behavior of flies. We also describe methods for examining connectivity among multiple neurons that together form a neural circuit controlling a specific behavior. This work provides a resource for researchers interested in examining how neurons and neural circuits contribute to the rich repertoire of behaviors performed by flies.

scholarly journals Targeted manipulation of neuronal activity in behaving adult flies

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefanie Hampel ◽  
Andrew Michael Seeds
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Neuronal Activity ◽  
Neural Circuits ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Fruit Fly ◽  
Specific Behavior ◽  
Freely Behaving ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Circuit Function

The ability to control the activity of specific neurons in freely behaving animals provides an effective way to probe the contributions of neural circuits to behavior. Wide interest in studying principles of neural circuit function using the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster has fueled the construction of an extensive transgenic toolkit for performing such neural manipulations. Here we describe approaches for using these tools to manipulate the activity of specific neurons and assess how those manipulations impact the behavior of flies. We also describe methods for examining connectivity among multiple neurons that together form a neural circuit controlling a specific behavior. This work provides a resource for researchers interested in examining how neurons and neural circuits contribute to the rich repertoire of behaviors performed by flies.

scholarly journals The dialectic of Hebb and homeostasis

2017 ◽  
Vol 372 (1715) ◽  
pp. 20160258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gina G. Turrigiano
Keyword(s):  
Recent Progress ◽  
Neural Circuits ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Homeostatic Plasticity ◽  
Homeostatic Control ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Scales ◽  
Network Function ◽  
Hebbian Plasticity ◽  
Circuit Function ◽  
Hebbian Mechanisms

It has become widely accepted that homeostatic and Hebbian plasticity mechanisms work hand in glove to refine neural circuit function. Nonetheless, our understanding of how these fundamentally distinct forms of plasticity compliment (and under some circumstances interfere with) each other remains rudimentary. Here, I describe some of the recent progress of the field, as well as some of the deep puzzles that remain. These include unravelling the spatial and temporal scales of different homeostatic and Hebbian mechanisms, determining which aspects of network function are under homeostatic control, and understanding when and how homeostatic and Hebbian mechanisms must be segregated within neural circuits to prevent interference. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Integrating Hebbian and homeostatic plasticity’.

scholarly journals Neural architecture: from cells to circuits

2018 ◽  
Vol 120 (2) ◽  
pp. 854-866 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah E. V. Richards ◽  
Stephen D. Van Hooser
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Cerebral Cortex ◽  
Structure Function ◽  
Neural Circuits ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Neuronal Morphology ◽  
Neural Architecture ◽  
Synaptic Interactions ◽  
Branching Patterns ◽  
Circuit Function

Circuit operations are determined jointly by the properties of the circuit elements and the properties of the connections among these elements. In the nervous system, neurons exhibit diverse morphologies and branching patterns, allowing rich compartmentalization within individual cells and complex synaptic interactions among groups of cells. In this review, we summarize work detailing how neuronal morphology impacts neural circuit function. In particular, we consider example neurons in the retina, cerebral cortex, and the stomatogastric ganglion of crustaceans. We also explore molecular coregulators of morphology and circuit function to begin bridging the gap between molecular and systems approaches. By identifying motifs in different systems, we move closer to understanding the structure-function relationships that are present in neural circuits.

scholarly journals Neural Circuits Underlying Behavioral Flexibility: Insights From Drosophila

2022 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita V. Devineni ◽  
Kristin M. Scaplen
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Neural Circuits ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Internal State ◽  
Behavioral Responses ◽  
Behavioral Flexibility ◽  
Environmental Context ◽  
Behavioral State ◽  
Insight Into

Behavioral flexibility is critical to survival. Animals must adapt their behavioral responses based on changes in the environmental context, internal state, or experience. Studies in Drosophila melanogaster have provided insight into the neural circuit mechanisms underlying behavioral flexibility. Here we discuss how Drosophila behavior is modulated by internal and behavioral state, environmental context, and learning. We describe general principles of neural circuit organization and modulation that underlie behavioral flexibility, principles that are likely to extend to other species.

scholarly journals A genetic, genomic, and computational resource for exploring neural circuit function

eLife ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred P Davis ◽  
Aljoscha Nern ◽  
Serge Picard ◽  
Michael B Reiser ◽  
Gerald M Rubin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neural Circuits ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Individual Cell ◽  
Probabilistic Method ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Receptor Expression ◽  
Generating Functional ◽  
Circuit Function ◽  
Different Cell Types

The anatomy of many neural circuits is being characterized with increasing resolution, but their molecular properties remain mostly unknown. Here, we characterize gene expression patterns in distinct neural cell types of the Drosophila visual system using genetic lines to access individual cell types, the TAPIN-seq method to measure their transcriptomes, and a probabilistic method to interpret these measurements. We used these tools to build a resource of high-resolution transcriptomes for 100 driver lines covering 67 cell types, available at http://www.opticlobe.com. Combining these transcriptomes with recently reported connectomes helps characterize how information is transmitted and processed across a range of scales, from individual synapses to circuit pathways. We describe examples that include identifying neurotransmitters, including cases of apparent co-release, generating functional hypotheses based on receptor expression, as well as identifying strong commonalities between different cell types.

scholarly journals Light, heat, action: neural control of fruit fly behaviour

2015 ◽  
Vol 370 (1677) ◽  
pp. 20140211 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Owald ◽  
Suewei Lin ◽  
Scott Waddell
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Neural Activity ◽  
Neural Control ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Cell Signalling ◽  
Fruit Fly ◽  
Signalling Pathways ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
Cellular Resolution ◽  
Technical Advances

The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster has emerged as a popular model to investigate fundamental principles of neural circuit operation. The sophisticated genetics and small brain permit a cellular resolution understanding of innate and learned behavioural processes. Relatively recent genetic and technical advances provide the means to specifically and reproducibly manipulate the function of many fly neurons with temporal resolution. The same cellular precision can also be exploited to express genetically encoded reporters of neural activity and cell-signalling pathways. Combining these approaches in living behaving animals has great potential to generate a holistic view of behavioural control that transcends the usual molecular, cellular and systems boundaries. In this review, we discuss these approaches with particular emphasis on the pioneering studies and those involving learning and memory.

scholarly journals The Drosophila Larval Locomotor Circuit Provides a Model to Understand Neural Circuit Development and Function

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iain Hunter ◽  
Bramwell Coulson ◽  
Aref Arzan Zarin ◽  
Richard A. Baines
Keyword(s):  
Neural Circuits ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Fruit Fly ◽  
Model Organisms ◽  
Generic Model ◽  
Critical Periods ◽  
Neuroscience Research ◽  
Circuit Development ◽  
And Function ◽  
Model Circuit

It is difficult to answer important questions in neuroscience, such as: “how do neural circuits generate behaviour?,” because research is limited by the complexity and inaccessibility of the mammalian nervous system. Invertebrate model organisms offer simpler networks that are easier to manipulate. As a result, much of what we know about the development of neural circuits is derived from work in crustaceans, nematode worms and arguably most of all, the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. This review aims to demonstrate the utility of the Drosophila larval locomotor network as a model circuit, to those who do not usually use the fly in their work. This utility is explored first by discussion of the relatively complete connectome associated with one identified interneuron of the locomotor circuit, A27h, and relating it to similar circuits in mammals. Next, it is developed by examining its application to study two important areas of neuroscience research: critical periods of development and interindividual variability in neural circuits. In summary, this article highlights the potential to use the larval locomotor network as a “generic” model circuit, to provide insight into mammalian circuit development and function.

scholarly journals Extreme stiffness of neuronal synapses and implications for synaptic adhesion and plasticity

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ju Yang ◽  
Nicola Mandriota ◽  
Steven Glenn Harrellson ◽  
John Anthony Jones-Molina ◽  
Rafael Yuste ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Structural Changes ◽  
Neural Circuits ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
Biophysical Model ◽  
And Function ◽  
Circuit Function

AbstractSynapses play a critical role in neural circuits, and they are potential sites for learning and memory. Maintenance of synaptic adhesion is critical for neural circuit function, however, biophysical mechanisms that help maintain synaptic adhesion are not clear. Studies with various cell types demonstrated the important role of stiffness in cellular adhesions. Although synaptic stiffness could also play a role in synaptic adhesion, stiffnesses of synapses are difficult to characterize due to their small size and challenges in verifying synapse identity and function. To address these challenges, we have developed an experimental platform that combines atomic force microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. Here, using this platform, we report that functional, mature, excitatory synapses had an average elastic modulus of approximately 200 kPa, two orders of magnitude larger than that of the brain tissue, suggesting stiffness might have a role in synapse function. Similar to various functional and anatomical features of neural circuits, synaptic stiffness had a lognormal-like distribution, hinting a possible regulation of stiffness by processes involved in neural circuit function. In further support of this possibility, we observed that synaptic stiffness was correlated with spine size, a quantity known to correlate with synaptic strength. Using established stages of the long-term potentiation timeline and theoretical models of adhesion cluster dynamics, we developed a biophysical model of the synapse that not only explains extreme stiffness of synapses, their statistical distribution, and correlation with spine size, but also offers an explanation to how early biomolecular and structural changes during functional potentiation could lead to strengthening of synaptic adhesion. According to this model, synaptic stiffness serves as an indispensable physical messenger, feeding information back to synaptic adhesion molecules to facilitate maintenance of synaptic adhesion.

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