Mechanisms of temperature dependent odor coding in Drosophila melanogaster

Project Summary / Abstract We live in a multisensory world. Our brains must integrate relevant information across modalities to understand our environment and survive. How the brain combines and processes these multiple streams of information within cells and across circuits remains elusive. A major barrier to understanding how sensory information alters neural code and signal processing is the lack of experimental models that allow precise control of multiple sensory modalities and the manipulation of their cellular and circuit mechanisms. To bridge this gap, I will explore how odor and temperature information intersect in the brain of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. This project aims to uncover how dedicated thermosensory processing compensates for or collaborates with temperature-induced changes in neuronal functions to help understand how sensory information is transformed in the early stages of sensory processing. Specifically, the goals of this project are to establish how temperature modifies olfactory processing at the cellular, synaptic, and circuit level. I will use extracellular recordings to examine the biophysical effects of temperature on sensory transduction and spike generation in olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs). I will use intracellular whole-cell patch-clamp recordings from projection neurons (PNs) to characterize the impact of temperature on cellular and synaptic properties, revealing temperature’s influence on the transformation of information between ORNs and PNs. Finally, I will combine PN recordings with pharmacological and genetic manipulations of local inhibition to elucidate how active temperature encoding in the thermosensory system regulates the transformation of odor information across the first layer of sensory processing. This project will provide foundational knowledge about the cellular, synaptic, and circuit mechanisms transforming of raw sensory stimuli under dual sensory input. This proposal furthers my knowledge and skill set in sensory neuroscience. It provides me the opportunity to develop new expertise, including in vivo patch-clamp and single sensillum extracellular recordings, while expanding my grasp of genetics and temperature manipulation. Further, this proposal firmly supports the NIDCD’s stated priority “to enhance our understanding of how individuals gather information about their environment”.