Mastodawn

📰 "Environmental statistics and sensory experience shape patch foraging strategies in Drosophila larvae"
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.03.27.714746v1?rss=1
#Drosophila #Behaviour #Sensory
#Larva

Environmental statistics and sensory experience shape patch foraging strategies in Drosophila larvae

Animals foraging in patchy environments must balance exploiting current resources with exploring for better alternatives to maximize resource intake and to survive. However, the neural and computational mechanisms underlying such adaptive decisions have just recently begun to be understood. Using Drosophila larvae as an experimentally tractable model, we combine long-timescale behavioral tracking in controlled patchy environments with varying statistics, along with quantitative analysis and computational modeling, to dissect foraging decision strategies. We show that larvae flexibly adjust their behavior according to both the quality and valence of available resources, shaped by prior foraging experience. A simple integration model recapitulates larval patch-leaving behavior, with model parameters tuned by environmental statistics and foraging history. Together, these findings establish Drosophila larvae as a powerful system for studying adaptive foraging and for uncovering the neural circuit mechanisms that implement experience-dependent foraging decisions. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, EXC 2117-422037984 International Human Frontier Science Program Organization, RGP006/2025

bioRxiv

flypapers 7h ago

📰 "Current Evidence for Sleep States in Drosophila: Findings and Implications"
https://doi.org/doi:10.1007/s40675-025-00352-w
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41907494/
#DrosophilaMelanogaster
#Drosophila #Behaviour #Sleep

Current Evidence for Sleep States in Drosophila: Findings and Implications - Current Sleep Medicine Reports

Sleep is an essential biological behavior, with its absence leading to severe consequences, including death. In mammals, sleep consists of distinct states&

SpringerLink

flypapers 7h ago

📰 "Ether phospholipids modulate somatosensory responses by tuning multiple receptor functions in Drosophila"
https://doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.isci.2026.115209
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41907445/
#Drosophila #Behaviour #Sensory

flypapers 10h ago

📰 "NLGN3 autism variants have distinct functional impact on synapses and sleep behavior in Drosophila"
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.03.26.714389v1?rss=1
#Drosophila #Behaviour #Sleep

NLGN3 autism variants have distinct functional impact on synapses and sleep behavior in Drosophila

Neuroligin-3 (NLGN3) was first identified as a risk gene associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The initial variant, p.R451C, associating NLGN3 with ASD has been heavily investigated, yet little is known about the functional consequences of other NLGN3 variants. Furthermore, while most of the identified variants are present in males with maternally inherited variants from unaffected mothers, several de novo variants were observed in females, suggesting a possible functional difference between de novo and maternally inherited variants. To address the functional consequences of NLGN3 variants in vivo , we generated transgenic Drosophila models corresponding to one de novo variant (p.R175W) and two maternally inherited variants (p.R451C and p.R597W). In Drosophila , loss of the fly homolog, Nlg3 , altered sleep patterns, synaptic architecture, and vesicle dynamics, which were rescued by the expression of the human NLGN3Ref allele. When comparing the variants, the de novo p.R175W variant and the maternally inherited p.R451C variant altered synapse morphology and sleep patterns, with minimal effects on vesicle dynamics, and the p.R597W variant altered sleep and vesicle dynamics with minimal impact on synapse morphology. Using overexpression models, human NLGN3Ref altered sleep patterns and synaptic morphology. Moreover, the p.R175W variant exacerbated sleep phenotypes, and the p.R175W and p.R451C variants exacerbated synapse morphology phenotypes. Together, our findings suggest that de novo NLGN3 variants identified in females are likely gain-of-function, while maternally inherited variants have mixed loss- and gain-of-function effects. Moreover, the location of the variants may contribute to the distinct functional differences we observed. Some NLGN3 variants disrupt synaptic development, while other variants alter synaptic function, suggesting that NLGN3 variants have differential effects. These functional differences may provide insight into the heterogeneity of individuals with ASD. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.

bioRxiv

Palm Oil Detectives 1d ago

Seeing the world through the eyes of #shrimp 🍤#bees 🐝🪲 #apes 🦧🦍 #dogs 🐶🐕 is a deep-dive into wonder. It generates a humble understanding of diverse ways of seeing the world #communication #behaviour #vision #animals #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect.bsky.social https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/03/17/inside-the-colourful-world-of-animal-vision/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=Palm+Oil+Detectives&utm_campaign=publer

flypapers 1d ago

📰 "Non-cell autonomous miR-9a modulates female receptivity by constraining sensory neuron growth in Drosophila melanogaster"
https://doi.org/doi:10.1093/genetics/iyag089
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41902665/
#DrosophilaMelanogaster
#Drosophila #Behaviour #Sensory

CBC Top Stories 2d ago

Scientists captured rare video of a sperm whale birth. What they learned from that remarkable moment
Rare footage of a sperm whale giving birth has offered scientists a window into the behaviour of these large, elusive mammals.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/sperm-whale-birth-video-9.7144808?cmp=rss

CBC Technology Science 2d ago

flypapers 2d ago

📰 "Escherichia coli Mono-Association Modulates Ionotropic Receptor-Dependent Behaviors in Drosophila melanogaster"
https://doi.org/doi:10.3390/insects17030275
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41898937/
#DrosophilaMelanogaster
#Drosophila #Behaviour #Sensory
#Immunity #Adult
#Larva

flypapers 2d ago

📰 "Inhibitory-modulatory coupling generates persistent activity during working memory"
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.03.27.714602v1?rss=1
#Drosophila #Behaviour

Inhibitory-modulatory coupling generates persistent activity during working memory

Working memory requires the stable maintenance of neural representations across temporal gaps, yet the circuit mechanisms that generate and stabilize persistent activity remain unsolved. Prevailing models emphasize recurrent excitation as the principal substrate of persistence, but how inhibitory and modulatory interactions shape the stability of temporal dynamics is unclear. Here, using trace conditioning in Drosophila, a working memory-dependent form of associative learning, we identify reciprocal inhibition as a circuit mechanism for sustaining persistent activity. In trace conditioning, a trace interval separates the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli, requiring maintenance of a neural representation across the trace interval, to support learning. Combining virtual-reality behavior, targeted neurogenetic perturbations, in vivo two-photon calcium imaging, and real-time neurotransmitter measurements, we uncover a reciprocal inhibitory microcircuit within the ellipsoid body that is selectively engaged during trace, but not delay (overlapping CS-US), conditioning. During the trace interval, ER2/4m neurons exhibit sustained activity, while reciprocally connected ER3/4d neurons show progressively strengthened suppression, forming a dynamically stabilized inhibitory loop. Disrupting GABA synthesis or reception within this circuit abolishes persistent activity and impairs trace learning, demonstrating the causal requirement for reciprocal inhibition in working memory maintenance. We further show that glutamatergic and nitric oxide signaling enhance inhibitory efficacy during the trace interval. In vivo neurotransmitter imaging reveals temporally structured dynamics in which glutamatergic signaling precedes and amplifies sustained GABAergic inhibition, consistent with modulatory stabilization of circuit persistence. Together, these findings identify reciprocal inhibition, reinforced by modulatory signaling, as a core circuit mechanism for dynamically stabilizing persistent neural representations. Our results challenge excitation-centric models of working memory and establish inhibitory-modulatory loops as a fundamental substrate for maintaining memory traces across time. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. United States Air Force Office of Scientific Research, FA9550-23-1-0024, FA9550-25-1-0299 Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind Innovative Research Grant, 2021-1779

bioRxiv