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.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Type
Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F32)
Project #
5F32GM086207-02
Application #
7658108
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-F03B-L (20))
Program Officer
Bender, Michael T
Project Start
2008-07-01
Project End
2011-06-30
Budget Start
2009-07-01
Budget End
2010-06-30
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2009
Total Cost
$51,710
Indirect Cost
Name
New York University
Department
Biology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
041968306
City
New York
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
10012
Keene, Alex C; Mazzoni, Esteban O; Zhen, Jamie et al. (2011) Distinct visual pathways mediate Drosophila larval light avoidance and circadian clock entrainment. J Neurosci 31:6527-34
Dus, Monica; Min, SooHong; Keene, Alex C et al. (2011) Taste-independent detection of the caloric content of sugar in Drosophila. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 108:11644-9
Neely, G Gregory; Keene, Alex C; Duchek, Peter et al. (2011) TrpA1 regulates thermal nociception in Drosophila. PLoS One 6:e24343
Duboue, Erik R; Keene, Alex C; Borowsky, Richard L (2011) Evolutionary convergence on sleep loss in cavefish populations. Curr Biol 21:671-6
McDonald, Daniel M; Keene, Alex C (2010) The sleep-feeding conflict: Understanding behavioral integration through genetic analysis in Drosophila. Aging (Albany NY) 2:519-22
Neely, G Gregory; Kuba, Keiji; Cammarato, Anthony et al. (2010) A global in vivo Drosophila RNAi screen identifies NOT3 as a conserved regulator of heart function. Cell 141:142-53
Neely, G Gregory; Hess, Andreas; Costigan, Michael et al. (2010) A genome-wide Drosophila screen for heat nociception identifies ?2?3 as an evolutionarily conserved pain gene. Cell 143:628-38
Keene, Alex C; Duboue, Erik R; McDonald, Daniel M et al. (2010) Clock and cycle limit starvation-induced sleep loss in Drosophila. Curr Biol 20:1209-15