Troy D. Zars (1967-2018) was an American biologist. He studied the relationships between genes, neuronal circuits and behavior in the fruit fly . Zars co-pioneered the use of transgene expression to locally restore gene function in memory-defective fly mutants, an approach that provided breakthrough insights into the localization of memory traces in the fly brain. With ensuing refinements of the methods of transgene expression and the broadening in the range of transgenes to be expressed, this shaped the field of modern behavioral neurogenetics.
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Thermal tolerance is a fundamental physiological complex trait for survival in many species. For example, everyday tasks such as foraging, finding a mate, and avoiding predation, are highly dependent on how well an organism can tolerate extreme temperatures. Understanding the general architecture of the natural variants of the genes that control this trait is of high importance if we want to better comprehend how this trait evolves in natural populations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSleep restores place learning to the adenylyl cyclase mutant .
J Neurogenet
March 2020
Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA.
Sleep plays an important role in regulating plasticity. In , the relationship between sleep and learning and memory has primarily focused on mushroom body dependent operant-learning assays such as aversive phototaxic suppression and courtship conditioning. In this study, sleep was increased in the classic mutant () and () by feeding them the GABA-A agonist gaboxadol (Gab).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDopaminergic neurons can influence heat-box place learning in .
J Neurogenet
March 2020
Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA.
Dopamine provides crucial neuromodulatory functions in several insect and rodent learning and memory paradigms. However, an early study suggested that dopamine may be dispensable for aversive place memory in . Here we tested the involvement of particular dopaminergic neurons in place learning and memory.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMultiple genetic loci affect place learning and memory performance in Drosophila melanogaster.
Genes Brain Behav
September 2019
Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri.
Learning and memory are critical functions for all animals, giving individuals the ability to respond to changes in their environment. Within populations, individuals vary, however the mechanisms underlying this variation in performance are largely unknown. Thus, it remains to be determined what genetic factors cause an individual to have high learning ability and what factors determine how well an individual will remember what they have learned.
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PLoS One
January 2019
Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, United States of America.
Unsignaled stress can have profound effects on animal behavior. While most investigation of stress-effects on behavior follows chronic exposures, less is understood about acute exposures and potential after-effects. We examined walking activity in Drosophila following acute exposure to high temperature or electric shock.
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