GSBS Student Publications
Title
Layered reward signalling through octopamine and dopamine in Drosophila
GSBS Program
Neuroscience
Publication Date
2012-12-20
UMMS Affiliation
Department of Neurobiology; Waddell Lab; Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Neuroscience Program
Document Type
Article
Disciplines
Neuroscience and Neurobiology
Abstract
Dopamine is synonymous with reward and motivation in mammals. However, only recently has dopamine been linked to motivated behaviour and rewarding reinforcement in fruitflies. Instead, octopamine has historically been considered to be the signal for reward in insects. Here we show, using temporal control of neural function in Drosophila, that only short-term appetitive memory is reinforced by octopamine. Moreover, octopamine-dependent memory formation requires signalling through dopamine neurons. Part of the octopamine signal requires the α-adrenergic-like OAMB receptor in an identified subset of mushroom-body-targeted dopamine neurons. Octopamine triggers an increase in intracellular calcium in these dopamine neurons, and their direct activation can substitute for sugar to form appetitive memory, even in flies lacking octopamine. Analysis of the β-adrenergic-like OCTβ2R receptor reveals that octopamine-dependent reinforcement also requires an interaction with dopamine neurons that control appetitive motivation. These data indicate that sweet taste engages a distributed octopamine signal that reinforces memory through discrete subsets of mushroom-body-targeted dopamine neurons. In addition, they reconcile previous findings with octopamine and dopamine and suggest that reinforcement systems in flies are more similar to mammals than previously thought.
DOI of Published Version
10.1038/nature11614
Source
Nature. 2012 Dec 20;492(7429):433-7. doi: 10.1038/nature11614. Link to article on publisher's website
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Nature
Related Resources
PubMed ID
23103875
Repository Citation
Burke CJ, Huetteroth W, Owald D, Perisse E, Krashes MJ, Das G, Gohl D, Silies M, Certel S, Waddell S. (2012). Layered reward signalling through octopamine and dopamine in Drosophila. GSBS Student Publications. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11614. Retrieved from https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/gsbs_sp/1829