Creating Detailed Metadata for an R Shiny Analysis of Rodent Behavior Sequence Data Detected Along One Light-Dark Cycle.

Automated mouse phenotyping through the high-throughput analysis of home cage behavior has brought hope of a more effective and efficient method for testing rodent models of diseases. Advanced video analysis software is able to derive behavioral sequence data sets from multiple-day recordings. However, no dedicated mechanisms exist for sharing or analyzing these types of data.

Sensitivity to expression levels underlies differential dominance of a putative null allele of the Drosophila tβh gene in behavioral phenotypes.

The biogenic amine octopamine (OA) and its precursor tyramine (TA) are involved in controlling a plethora of different physiological and behavioral processes. The tyramine-β-hydroxylase (tβh) gene encodes the enzyme catalyzing the last synthesis step from TA to OA. Here, we report differential dominance (from recessive to overdominant) of the putative null tβhnM18 allele in 2 behavioral measures in Buridan's paradigm (walking speed and stripe deviation) and in proboscis extension (sugar sensitivity) in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster.

Is authorship sufficient for today's collaborative research? A call for contributor roles.

Assigning authorship and recognizing contributions to scholarly works is challenging on many levels. Here we discuss ethical, social, and technical challenges to the concept of authorship that may impede the recognition of contributions to a scholarly work. Recent work in the field of authorship shows that shifting to a more inclusive contributorship approach may address these challenges.

Structural and Molecular Properties of Insect Type II Motor Axon Terminals.

A comparison between the axon terminals of octopaminergic efferent dorsal or ventral unpaired median neurons in either desert locusts () or fruit flies () across skeletal muscles reveals many similarities. In both species the octopaminergic axon forms beaded fibers where the boutons or varicosities form type II terminals in contrast to the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) or type I terminals. These type II terminals are immunopositive for both tyramine and octopamine and, in contrast to the type I terminals, which possess clear synaptic vesicles, only contain dense core vesicles.

Octopamine and Tyramine Contribute Separately to the Counter-Regulatory Response to Sugar Deficit in .

All animals constantly negotiate external with internal demands before and during action selection. Energy homeostasis is a major internal factor biasing action selection. For instance, in addition to physiologically regulating carbohydrate mobilization, starvation-induced sugar shortage also biases action selection toward food-seeking and food consumption behaviors (the counter-regulatory response).

A multi-disciplinary perspective on emergent and future innovations in peer review.

Peer review of research articles is a core part of our scholarly communication system. In spite of its importance, the status and purpose of peer review is often contested. What is its role in our modern digital research and communications infrastructure? Does it perform to the high standards with which it is generally regarded? Studies of peer review have shown that it is prone to bias and abuse in numerous dimensions, frequently unreliable, and can fail to detect even fraudulent research.

A decision underlies phototaxis in an insect.

Like a moth into the flame-phototaxis is an iconic example for innate preferences. Such preferences probably reflect evolutionary adaptations to predictable situations and have traditionally been conceptualized as hard-wired stimulus-response links. Perhaps for that reason, the century-old discovery of flexibility in Drosophila phototaxis has received little attention.

PKC in motorneurons underlies self-learning, a form of motor learning in Drosophila.

Tethering a fly for stationary flight allows for exquisite control of its sensory input, such as visual or olfactory stimuli or a punishing infrared laser beam. A torque meter measures the turning attempts of the tethered fly around its vertical body axis. By punishing, say, left turning attempts (in a homogeneous environment), one can train a fly to restrict its behaviour to right turning attempts.

Sub-strains of Canton-S differ markedly in their locomotor behavior.

We collected five sub-strains of the standard laboratory wild-type Canton Special (CS) and analyzed their walking behavior in Buridan's paradigm using the CeTrAn software. According to twelve different aspects of their behavior, the sub-strains fit into three groups. The group separation appeared not to be correlated with the origin of the stocks.

Drosophila FoxP mutants are deficient in operant self-learning.

Intact function of the Forkhead Box P2 (FOXP2) gene is necessary for normal development of speech and language. This important role has recently been extended, first to other forms of vocal learning in animals and then also to other forms of motor learning. The homology in structure and in function among the FoxP gene members raises the possibility that the ancestral FoxP gene may have evolved as a crucial component of the neural circuitry mediating motor learning.

Open source tracking and analysis of adult Drosophila locomotion in Buridan's paradigm with and without visual targets.

Background: Insects have been among the most widely used model systems for studying the control of locomotion by nervous systems. In Drosophila, we implemented a simple test for locomotion: in Buridan's paradigm, flies walk back and forth between two inaccessible visual targets [1]. Until today, the lack of easily accessible tools for tracking the fly position and analyzing its trajectory has probably contributed to the slow acceptance of Buridan's paradigm.

The biology of psychology: 'Simple' conditioning?

Operant (instrumental) and classical (Pavlovian) conditioning are taught as the simplest forms of associative learning. Recent research in several invertebrate model systems has now accumulated evidence that the dichotomy is not as simple as it seemed. During operant learning in the fruit fly Drosophila, at least two genetically distinct learning systems interact dynamically.

Combined rather than separate pathways for hedonic and sensory aspects of taste in fly larvae?

In mammals, the hedonic aspects (good versus bad) and sensory aspects (i.e., the molecular quality) of taste are associated with different brain regions.

Genetic dissection of neural circuit anatomy underlying feeding behavior in Drosophila: distinct classes of hugin-expressing neurons.

The hugin gene of Drosophila encodes a neuropeptide with homology to mammalian neuromedin U. The hugin-expressing neurons are localized exclusively to the subesophageal ganglion of the central nervous system and modulate feeding behavior in response to nutrient signals. These neurons send neurites to the protocerebrum, the ventral nerve cord, the ring gland, and the pharynx and may interact with the gustatory sense organs.

Architecture of the primary taste center of Drosophila melanogaster larvae.

A simple nervous system combined with stereotypic behavioral responses to tastants, together with powerful genetic and molecular tools, have turned Drosophila larvae into a very promising model for studying gustatory coding. Using the Gal4/UAS system and confocal microscopy for visualizing gustatory afferents, we provide a description of the primary taste center in the larval central nervous system. Essentially, gustatory receptor neurons target different areas of the subesophageal ganglion (SOG), depending on their segmental and sensory organ origin.