title: Connecting Neural Codes with Behavior in the Auditory System of Drosophila.
abstract: Brains are optimized for processing ethologically relevant sensory signals. However, few studies have characterized the neural coding mechanisms that underlie the transformation from natural sensory information to behavior. Here, we focus on acoustic communication in Drosophila melanogaster and use computational modeling to link natural courtship song, neuronal codes, and female behavioral responses to song. We show that melanogaster females are sensitive to long timescale song structure (on the order of tens of seconds). From intracellular recordings, we generate models that recapitulate neural responses to acoustic stimuli. We link these neural codes with female behavior by generating model neural responses to natural courtship song. Using a simple decoder, we predict female behavioral responses to the same song stimuli with high accuracy. Our modeling approach reveals how long timescale song features are represented by the Drosophila brain and how neural representations can be decoded to generate behavioral selectivity for acoustic communication signals.
authors.affiliation: Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Washington Road, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.|Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Washington Road, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Clemens
authors.affiliation: Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Washington Road, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.|Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Washington Road, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.|Department of Neurobiology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz 78457, Germany.
authors.forename: Cyrille C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Girardin
authors.affiliation: Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Washington Road, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.|Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Washington Road, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
authors.forename: Pip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Coen
authors.affiliation: Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Washington Road, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.|Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Washington Road, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
authors.forename: Xiao-Juan
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.affiliation: Janelia Research Campus, 19700 Helix Drive, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA.
authors.forename: Barry J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Dickson
authors.affiliation: Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Washington Road, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.|Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Washington Road, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
authors.forename: Mala
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Murthy
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D001306:Auditory Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D004330:Drosophila; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D014828:Vocalization, Animal / Q000502:physiology*