title: The power law distribution for walking-time intervals correlates with the ellipsoid-body in Drosophila.
abstract: The temporal properties of a variety of behavioral traits obey power law distributions, a property often referred to as fractal. We recently showed that the temporal pattern of locomotor activity of the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster follows this distribution. Although an increasing number of such fractal patterns are being discovered, the brain areas and neuronal networks responsible remain unknown. In this study, we show that specifically blocking synapses established by neurons of the Drosophila ellipsoid-body, a substructure of the central complex in the brain, leads to a loss of the fractal properties in the temporal pattern. We conclude that the temporal fractal pattern of locomotor activity is regulated in the ellipsoid-body.
authors.affiliation: Bases Neurales du Mouvement chez la Drosophile, NAMC, CNRS, UMR-8620 Université Paris-Sud, Orsay, France. jean-rene.martin@ibaic.u-psud.fr
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Faure
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ernst
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000502:physiology*; D017709:Fractals; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D018390:Gene Targeting / Q000379:methods; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology; D013998:Time Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D005656:Fungal Proteins; C052130:GAL4 protein, S cerevisiae; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors