title: The neurogenetics of group behavior in Drosophila melanogaster.
abstract: Organisms rarely act in isolation. Their decisions and movements are often heavily influenced by direct and indirect interactions with conspecifics. For example, we each represent a single node within a social network of family and friends, and an even larger network of strangers. This group membership can affect our opinions and actions. Similarly, when in a crowd, we often coordinate our movements with others like fish in a school, or birds in a flock. Contributions of the group to individual behaviors are observed across a wide variety of taxa but their biological mechanisms remain largely unknown. With the advent of powerful computational tools as well as the unparalleled genetic accessibility and surprisingly rich social life of Drosophila melanogaster, researchers now have a unique opportunity to investigate molecular and neuronal determinants of group behavior. Conserved mechanisms and/or selective pressures in D. melanogaster can likely inform a much wider phylogenetic scale. Here, we highlight two examples to illustrate how quantitative and genetic tools can be combined to uncover mechanisms of two group behaviors in D. melanogaster: social network formation and collective behavior. Lastly, we discuss future challenges towards a full understanding how coordinated brain activity across many individuals gives rise to the behavioral patterns of animal societies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Bioengineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91106, USA pavan.ramdya@epfl.ch j.schneider@utoronto.ca joel.levine@utoronto.ca.
authors.forename: Pavan
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5425-4610
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ramdya
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Toronto at Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5L1C6 pavan.ramdya@epfl.ch j.schneider@utoronto.ca joel.levine@utoronto.ca.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1114-618X
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Toronto at Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5L1C6 pavan.ramdya@epfl.ch j.schneider@utoronto.ca joel.levine@utoronto.ca.
authors.forename: Joel D
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6254-6274
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Levine
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D017344:Genes, Insect; D055614:Genetic Phenomena; D005823:Genetics; D009424:Nervous System Physiological Phenomena; D009434:Neural Pathways; D009488:Neurosciences; D012919:Social Behavior
keywords: Collective behavior; Drosophila melanogaster; Group behavior; Neurogenetics; Social networks