title: Decoding odor quality and intensity in the Drosophila brain.
abstract: To internally reflect the sensory environment, animals create neural maps encoding the external stimulus space. From that primary neural code relevant information has to be extracted for accurate navigation. We analyzed how different odor features such as hedonic valence and intensity are functionally integrated in the lateral horn (LH) of the vinegar fly, Drosophila melanogaster. We characterized an olfactory-processing pathway, comprised of inhibitory projection neurons (iPNs) that target the LH exclusively, at morphological, functional and behavioral levels. We demonstrate that iPNs are subdivided into two morphological groups encoding positive hedonic valence or intensity information and conveying these features into separate domains in the LH. Silencing iPNs severely diminished flies' attraction behavior. Moreover, functional imaging disclosed a LH region tuned to repulsive odors comprised exclusively of third-order neurons. We provide evidence for a feature-based map in the LH, and elucidate its role as the center for integrating behaviorally relevant olfactory information.
authors.affiliation: Department of Evolutionary Neuroethology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Antonia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Strutz
authors.affiliation: Department for Biology, Pharmacy and Chemistry, Free University Berlin, Neuroinformatics and Theoretical Neuroscience, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Soelter
authors.affiliation: Department of Evolutionary Neuroethology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Amelie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Baschwitz
authors.affiliation: Department of Evolutionary Neuroethology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Abu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Farhan
authors.affiliation: Department of Evolutionary Neuroethology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Veit
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Grabe
authors.affiliation: Department of Evolutionary Neuroethology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rybak
authors.affiliation: Department of Evolutionary Neuroethology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Knaden
authors.affiliation: Department for Biology, Pharmacy and Chemistry, Free University Berlin, Neuroinformatics and Theoretical Neuroscience, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schmuker
authors.affiliation: Department of Evolutionary Neuroethology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Bill S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Hansson
authors.affiliation: Department of Evolutionary Neuroethology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Silke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sachse
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D020013:Calcium Signaling; D003712:Dendrites / Q000502:physiology; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000502:physiology*; D009433:Neural Inhibition / Q000502:physiology; D009812:Odorants; D009833:Olfactory Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid
keywords: D. melanogaster; antennal lobe; functional imaging; lateral horn; neural circuit; neuroscience; odor processing; olfaction