GSBS Student Publications
GSBS Program
Neuroscience
UMMS Affiliation
Department of Neurobiology; Waddell Lab; Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Neuroscience Program
Date
3-16-2015
Document Type
Article
Disciplines
Behavioral Neurobiology
Abstract
Dopaminergic neurons provide reward learning signals in mammals and insects [1-4]. Recent work in Drosophila has demonstrated that water-reinforcing dopaminergic neurons are different to those for nutritious sugars [5]. Here, we tested whether the sweet taste and nutrient properties of sugar reinforcement further subdivide the fly reward system. We found that dopaminergic neurons expressing the OAMB octopamine receptor [6] specifically convey the short-term reinforcing effects of sweet taste [4]. These dopaminergic neurons project to the beta'2 and gamma4 regions of the mushroom body lobes. In contrast, nutrient-dependent long-term memory requires different dopaminergic neurons that project to the gamma5b regions, and it can be artificially reinforced by those projecting to the beta lobe and adjacent alpha1 region. Surprisingly, whereas artificial implantation and expression of short-term memory occur in satiated flies, formation and expression of artificial long-term memory require flies to be hungry. These studies suggest that short-term and long-term sugar memories have different physiological constraints. They also demonstrate further functional heterogeneity within the rewarding dopaminergic neuron population.
Rights and Permissions
Citation: Curr Biol. 2015 Mar 16;25(6):751-8. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2015.01.036. Epub 2015 Feb 26. Link to article on publisher's site
DOI of Published Version
10.1016/j.cub.2015.01.036
Related Resources
Journal Title
Current biology : CB
PubMed ID
25728694
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Repository Citation
Huetteroth, Wolf; Perisse, Emmanuel; Lin, Suewei; Klappenbach, Martin; Burke, Christopher J.; and Waddell, Scott, "Sweet taste and nutrient value subdivide rewarding dopaminergic neurons in Drosophila" (2015). GSBS Student Publications. 1986.
https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/gsbs_sp/1986
Comments
Co-author Christopher J. Burke is a doctoral student in the Neuroscience Program in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) at UMass Medical School.