Neurogenetic approaches to study directed behavior in Drosophila

PROJECT SUMMARY Temperature sensing is an important constituent of the somatosensory system and arguably one of the most ancient sensory modalities. Little is known about the central mechanisms that allow us to distinguish hot, cold, and noxious temperatures, or on how different thermal ranges become innately associated with either positive(“warm/cool”) or negative (“hot/cold”) hedonic valence in the brain. Our laboratory is addressing these fundamental questions by studying the circuit mechanisms underlying temperature sensing and preference in the fruit fly Drosophila. Supported by this grant, we have embarked in an effort to follow the full processing of temperature information in the fly brain: from detection at the periphery to the initiation of directed behavioral responses. This work has been uncovering, for the first time, the logic and mechanisms of thermosensory processing in the fly brain. We expect our results will reveal conserved principles of central sensory processing that have been difficult to uncover in more complex brains and will elucidate how sensory cues become associated with innate preference to guide behavior.