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Neurobiology

Memories of a fruitfly

Nature volume 439, pages 546–547 (2006)Cite this article

Despite its tiny size, the fruitfly brain is staggeringly intricate. So teasing apart how it remembers things — even a simple line pattern — is a daunting task. Progress is being made, thanks to genetic innovations.

Neuroscientists these days have a satisfactory understanding of how individual neurons work and of how they communicate with their immediate neighbours. By contrast, understanding at the next level of organization is hazier; for example, how neurons form functional circuits, how these circuits encode behaviour and particularly how experience changes the activity and connectivity in circuits to alter behaviour.

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Figure 1: Expressing a learning enzyme in selected cells.
Figure 2: Pinpointing visual memories.

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  1. the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, 02139, Massachusetts, USA

    William G. Quinn

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  1. William G. Quinn
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Quinn, W. Memories of a fruitfly. Nature 439, 546–547 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/439546a

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