title: Drosophila alpha/beta mushroom body neurons form a branch-specific, long-term cellular memory trace after spaced olfactory conditioning.
abstract: Functional optical imaging showed that odor or electric shock stimuli presented to the fly causes transient calcium influx into the two major axon branches of alpha/beta mushroom body (MB) neurons. One pairing of odor and electric shock stimuli or multiple, massed pairings did not alter odor-evoked calcium influx. In contrast, animals that received multiple, spaced pairings exhibited a robust increase in calcium influx into the MB axons when tested at 9 or 24 hr after training, but not at 3 hr. This modification occurred only in the alpha branch of the neurons and was blocked by mutation of the amnesiac gene, inhibition of protein synthesis, or the expression of a protein blocker of the transcription factor Creb. Thus, behavioral long-term olfactory memory appears to be encoded as a branch-specific modification of calcium influx into the alpha/beta MB neurons that occurs after spaced training in a protein synthesis-, Creb-, and amnesiac-dependent way.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Dinghui
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: David-Benjamin G
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Akalal
authors.forename: Ronald L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Davis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000502:physiology*; D017362:Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D003513:Cycloheximide / Q000494:pharmacology; D004330:Drosophila / Q000502:physiology*; D004597:Electroshock; D006358:Hot Temperature; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D024521:Mushroom Bodies / Q000502:physiology*; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D011500:Protein Synthesis Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D017362:Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein; D011500:Protein Synthesis Inhibitors; D003513:Cycloheximide; D002118:Calcium