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Salience modulates 20–30 Hz brain activity in Drosophila

Nature Neuroscience volume 6, pages 579–586 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

Fruit flies selectively orient toward the visual stimuli that are most salient in their environment. We recorded local field potentials (LFPs) from the brains of Drosophila melanogaster as they responded to the presentation of visual stimuli. Coupling of salience effects (odor, heat or novelty) to these stimuli modulated LFPs in the 20–30 Hz range by evoking a transient, selective increase. We demonstrated the association of these responses with behavioral tracking and initiated a genetic approach to investigating neural correlates of perception.

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Figure 1: Mapping the LFP signal to image position.
Figure 2: Attaching salience.
Figure 3: Selective 20–30 Hz response.
Figure 4: 20–30 Hz coherence.
Figure 5: Behavioral tracking and 20–30 Hz brain activity.
Figure 6: 20–30 Hz activity and tracking behavior in mutant strains.

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Acknowledgements

We thank J. Wagner for technical assistance, E. Izhikevich, Y. Chen and D. Nitz for discussions, and R. Andretic, H. Dierick and J. Gally for comments on the manuscript. Multichannel silicon probes were provided by the U. Michigan Center for Neural Communication Technology and sponsored by NIH NCRR grant P41-RR09754. This work was supported by the Neurosciences Research Foundation.

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  1. The Neurosciences Institute, 10640 John Jay Hopkins Drive, San Diego, 92121, California, USA

    Bruno van Swinderen & Ralph J Greenspan

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Correspondence to Ralph J Greenspan.

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van Swinderen, B., Greenspan, R. Salience modulates 20–30 Hz brain activity in Drosophila. Nat Neurosci 6, 579–586 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1054

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