Mushroom body output neurons encode valence and guide memory-based action selection in Drosophila

Animals discriminate stimuli, learn their predictive value and use this knowledge to modify their behavior. In Drosophila, the mushroom body (MB) plays a key role in these processes. Sensory stimuli are sparsely represented by ∼2000 Kenyon cells, which converge onto 34 output neurons (MBONs) of 21 types. We studied the role of MBONs in several associative learning tasks and in sleep regulation, revealing the extent to which information flow is segregated into distinct channels and suggesting possible roles for the multi-layered MBON network. We also show that optogenetic activation of MBONs can, depending on cell type, induce repulsion or attraction in flies. The behavioral effects of MBON perturbation are…

• HH
  Howard Hughes Medical Institute
• NF
  Naito Foundation
• DF
  Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

  Award: TA 552/5-1
• AN
  Agence Nationale de la Recherche
• BF
  Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
• M
  Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
• JS
  Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

  Award: MEXT/JSPS KAKENHI 25890003, 26120705, 26119503 and 26250001
• NI
  National Institute of General Medical Sciences

  Award: R01GM098931
• NI
  National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

  Award: R01NS055035, R01NS056443, R01NS091070