title: Selection of motor programs for suppressing food intake and inducing locomotion in the Drosophila brain.
abstract: Central mechanisms by which specific motor programs are selected to achieve meaningful behaviors are not well understood. Using electrophysiological recordings from pharyngeal nerves upon central activation of neurotransmitter-expressing cells, we show that distinct neuronal ensembles can regulate different feeding motor programs. In behavioral and electrophysiological experiments, activation of 20 neurons in the brain expressing the neuropeptide hugin, a homolog of mammalian neuromedin U, simultaneously suppressed the motor program for food intake while inducing the motor program for locomotion. Decreasing hugin neuropeptide levels in the neurons by RNAi prevented this action. Reducing the level of hugin neuronal activity alone did not have any effect on feeding or locomotion motor programs. Furthermore, use of promoter-specific constructs that labeled subsets of hugin neurons demonstrated that initiation of locomotion can be separated from modulation of its motor pattern. These results provide insights into a neural mechanism of how opposing motor programs can be selected in order to coordinate feeding and locomotive behaviors.
authors: Molecular Brain Physiology and Behavior, LIMES-Institute, University of Bonn, Germany.
authors: Andreas
authors: A
authors: Schoofs
authors: Molecular Brain Physiology and Behavior, LIMES-Institute, University of Bonn, Germany.
authors: Sebastian
authors: S
authors: Hückesfeld
authors: Molecular Brain Physiology and Behavior, LIMES-Institute, University of Bonn, Germany.
authors: Philipp
authors: P
authors: Schlegel
authors: Molecular Brain Physiology and Behavior, LIMES-Institute, University of Bonn, Germany.
authors: Anton
authors: A
authors: Miroschnikow
authors: Molecular Brain Physiology and Behavior, LIMES-Institute, University of Bonn, Germany.
authors: Marc
authors: M
authors: Peters
authors: Molecular Brain Physiology and Behavior, LIMES-Institute, University of Bonn, Germany.
authors: Malou
authors: M
authors: Zeymer
authors: Roland
authors: R
authors: Spieß
authors: Brain Research Center, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan.
authors: Ann-Shyn
authors: AS
authors: Chiang
authors: Molecular Brain Physiology and Behavior, LIMES-Institute, University of Bonn, Germany.
authors: Michael J
authors: MJ
authors: Pankratz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000502:physiology*; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D008124:Locomotion / Q000502:physiology*