Memory phase-specific genes in the Mushroom Bodies identified using CrebB-target DamID.

The formation of long-term memories requires changes in the transcriptional program and de novo protein synthesis. One of the critical regulators for long-term memory (LTM) formation and maintenance is the transcription factor CREB. Genetic studies have dissected the requirement of CREB activity within memory circuits, however less is known about the genetic mechanisms acting downstream of CREB and how they may contribute defining LTM phases.

Dopamine, sleep, and neuronal excitability modulate amyloid-β-mediated forgetting in Drosophila.

Alzheimer disease (AD) is one of the main causes of age-related dementia and neurodegeneration. However, the onset of the disease and the mechanisms causing cognitive defects are not well understood. Aggregation of amyloidogenic peptides is a pathological hallmark of AD and is assumed to be a central component of the molecular disease pathways.

Predictive olfactory learning in Drosophila.

Olfactory learning and conditioning in the fruit fly is typically modelled by correlation-based associative synaptic plasticity. It was shown that the conditioning of an odor-evoked response by a shock depends on the connections from Kenyon cells (KC) to mushroom body output neurons (MBONs). Although on the behavioral level conditioning is recognized to be predictive, it remains unclear how MBONs form predictions of aversive or appetitive values (valences) of odors on the circuit level.

Multiple neurons encode CrebB dependent appetitive long-term memory in the mushroom body circuit.

Lasting changes in gene expression are critical for the formation of long-term memories (LTMs), depending on the conserved CrebB transcriptional activator. While requirement of distinct neurons in defined circuits for different learning and memory phases have been studied in detail, only little is known regarding the gene regulatory changes that occur within these neurons. We here use the fruit fly as powerful model system to study the neural circuits of CrebB-dependent appetitive olfactory LTM.

Regulators of Long-Term Memory Revealed by Mushroom Body-Specific Gene Expression Profiling in .

Memory formation is achieved by genetically tightly controlled molecular pathways that result in a change of synaptic strength and synapse organization. While for short-term memory traces, rapidly acting biochemical pathways are in place, the formation of long-lasting memories requires changes in the transcriptional program of a cell. Although many genes involved in learning and memory formation have been identified, little is known about the genetic mechanisms required for changing the transcriptional program during different phases of long-term memory (LTM) formation.

Light preference assay to study innate and circadian regulated photobehavior in Drosophila larvae.

Light acts as environmental signal to control animal behavior at various levels. The Drosophila larval nervous system is used as a unique model to answer basic questions on how light information is processed and shared between rapid and circadian behaviors. Drosophila larvae display a stereotypical avoidance behavior when exposed to light.