Editor's Summary
26 June 2008
Spatial working memory in an insect
Visual orientation in a complex environment requires a memory for the positions of the various targets present in case they become temporarily out of sight. Vertebrates are equipped with this faculty, known as 'spatial working memory', a form of working memory that lasts at least for several seconds. Using a virtual-reality arena to present visual targets to walking flies, Neuser et al. show that insects also possess this faculty. Drosophila fruit flies lured away from a trip towards a hidden target remember the position of an object for several seconds after its removal. The neurons involved in the process are GABAergic ring neurons.
Authors: Making the paper: Roland Strauss
Flies can remember where they are going even when distracted en route.
doi:10.1038/7199xa
News and Views: Behavioural neuroscience: Out of sight, but not out of mind
Flies are cleverer than previously thought. They can remember their original destination even if distracted en route by another landmark. This behaviour depends on a specific group of neurons.
Seth M. Tomchik & Ronald L. Davis
doi:10.1038/4531192a
Letter: Analysis of a spatial orientation memory in Drosophila
Kirsa Neuser, Tilman Triphan, Markus Mronz, Burkhard Poeck & Roland Strauss
doi:10.1038/nature07003
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