Cognition, Behavior, and Memory
Author: Malena Cortasa | Email: malenacortasa@gmail.com
Malena Cortasa1°, Lia Frenkel1°
1° Laboratorio de Neurociencias del Tiempo-Instituto de Biociencias, Biotecnología y Biología traslacional- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales- Universidad de Buenos Aires
The neurobiological basis of time estimation has not been clearly established yet. We hypothesize that time estimation could be a type of immediate/short-term memory in which time itself is the stimulus that launches a behavior. We centered our study in rutabaga to find out whether it is engaged in time estimation, as it is a Ca+/calmodulin dependent adenylate cyclase involved in short-term memory.
We developed an automated interval-timing experimental setup for Drosophila melanogaster that delivers sucrose drops at a fixed interval. Each drop is available for 10s and the isolated fly only reaches the drop by executing a Proboscis Extension Response (PER). An overhead camera registers the behavior over time and DeepLabCut is used to analyze it. Previous results showed that 1) training increases the probability of PER, anticipating the occurrence of the drop and 2) that mushroom bodies seem to be involved in these responses.
Our first results showed that rutabaga is necessary for proper eye development since its downregulation in eyeless (OK107) pattern leads to morphologic and functional phenotypes. We adopted an auxin-inducible gene expression system to overcome these unwanted effects. Adult-specific downregulation of rutabaga in the OK107 pattern leads to eyes, phototaxis and startle response that are indistinguishable from control flies. Finally, we are evaluating the necessity and sufficiency of rutabaga in the mushroom bodies for the ability to estimate time.