title: Central complex and mushroom bodies mediate novelty choice behavior in Drosophila.
abstract: Novelty choice, a visual paired-comparison task, for the fly Drosophila melanogaster is studied with severely restrained single animals in a flight simulator. The virtual environment simulates free flight for rotation in the horizontal plane. The behavior has three functional components: visual azimuth orientation, working memory, and pattern discrimination (perception). Here we study novelty choice in relation to its neural substrate in the brain and show that it requires the central complex and, in particular, the ring neurons of the ellipsoid body. Surprisingly, it also involves the mushroom bodies which are needed specifically in the comparison of patterns of different sizes.
authors.affiliation: Rudolf-Virchow-Center, University of Würzburg , Josef-Schneider-Straße 2, Würzburg , Germany.
authors.forename: Narendra
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Solanki
authors.forename: Reinhard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heisenberg
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D004330:Drosophila; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D006918:Hydroxyurea / Q000494:pharmacology; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology; D024521:Mushroom Bodies / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D006918:Hydroxyurea
keywords: Brain; flight simulator; pattern recognition; size discrimination