Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

A number of single gene mutations dramatically reduce the ability of fruit flies to learn or to remember. Cloning of the affected genes implicated the adenylyl cyclase second-messenger system as key in learning and memory. The expression patterns of these genes, in combination with other data, indicates that brain structures called mushroom bodies are crucial for olfactory learning. However, the mushroom bodies are not dedicated solely to olfactory processing; they also mediate higher cognitive functions in the fly, such as visual context generalization. Molecular genetic manipulations, coupled with behavioral studies of the fly, will identify rudimentary neural circuits that underly multisensory learning and perhaps also the circuits that mediate more-complex brain functions, such as attention.

Original publication

DOI

10.1016/s0168-9525(01)02526-4

Type

Journal article

Journal

Trends Genet

Publication Date

12/2001

Volume

17

Pages

719 - 726

Keywords

Animals, Attention, Circadian Rhythm, Cyclic AMP, Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein, Drosophila, Genetics, Behavioral, Learning, Memory, Models, Biological, Mushroom Bodies, Mutation, Sensation