Optomotor effects after torque learning?
on Friday, May 26th, 2023 5:04 | by Björn Brembs
After training 14 flies it looks as if the new setup is working as it should:

Looking at the optomotor traces more closely now that (a) we know that motor neurons are the only site of plasticity and (b) we routinely record optomotor behavior after training, something very interesting appeared when comparing flies that have been trained on one turning direction with flies trained on the other side:

Flies trained to avoid right turning show reduced optomotor response to the right and vice versa! The weaker effect for ‘left’ may be due to the weaker learning in this group?

Anyway, I have never seen this and find it quite exciting!
Category: Operant learning, Optomotor response | No Comments
Bachelor Blog / #1 outline
on Monday, May 22nd, 2023 8:45 | by Ellie
Hello everyone!
Here is a brief overview of the topics I will be dealing with over the next few months:

This is the experiment by MD Ziv Williams I am trying to imitate ->
If you are further interested in transgenerational inheritance of behavioral traits and non synaptic memory storage check out these interesting links ->
- Can brain activity transmit transgenerationally? – Miska and Rechavi, 2021
- Is plasticity of synapses the mechanism of long-term memory storage? – Abraham, Jones and Glanzman, 2019
This week, for now, I will continue practicing to glue the flies and make a realistic estimate of the number of flies I need to get a significant result. Hopefully I can start trying out my experimental setup by the start of next week :)
Machine works, flies are not learning
on | by Björn Brembs
The old software is installed with the new hardware and I’ll be testing the new software in parallel to experiments with the old software. Technically, everything seems to be working now, but the first six flies I tested did not show learning after training:

However, avoidance looks fairly ok, only the last training period gives away that something still isn’t quite the way it should be:

So I’ll go ahead and train a new batch of flies this week. I’ll focus on training/avoidance and make sure it is perfect, before I shorten the training.
Category: Operant learning, operant self-learning | No Comments
Premature habit formation: neural circuitry
on Monday, May 8th, 2023 10:18 | by Radostina Lyutova
Inhibited subset of KCs in switch mode/yaw torque paradigm
on Friday, May 5th, 2023 3:52 | by Silvia Marcato
Category: flight, Habit formation, Kenyon cells, Mushroom Body | No Comments
Red light Joystick Results
on Monday, April 3rd, 2023 12:33 | by Luisa Guyton

Category: Optogenetics | No Comments
Yellow light Joystick Results
on Monday, March 27th, 2023 11:57 | by Luisa Guyton

Category: Optogenetics | No Comments
NWG Poster on MBON-02 regulating habit formation
on Thursday, March 23rd, 2023 12:18 | by Björn Brembs
Category: Habit formation, MBON, MBON, Operant learning | No Comments
Update: Red light Joystick results
on Saturday, March 18th, 2023 1:28 | by Florian Hierstetter

After the first full week of testing the three different fly lines with red light, we have analyzed the results. We are now able to provide a further update on our findings.
While the effect for the control groups seems to stay consistent with our previous findings, the effect for the positive control has weakened and is closer to the strength measured in previous experiments. We utilized the norpAP24;Gr28bd+TrpA1>Chrimson line for both our positive and negative controls.
Furthermore, the experimental group, which previously favored red light in the post-test, showed a more varied and inconclusive profile. We will need to conduct further testing to determine whether the previously observed effect was simply caused by the small sample size.
Another important discovery was the necessity of feeding the flies sugar water 5-10 minutes before the experiment in order to maintain their activity levels. This way the flies will be identified as a valid data point by the R-script and will ensure more and more accurate data. It is important to note that we will implement this feeding process in all future experiments to ensure consistency and accuracy of the data collected.
Category: Optogenetics | No Comments
Red light Joystick Results
on Tuesday, March 14th, 2023 8:57 | by Luisa Guyton

The light used is red and has an intensity of 400 to 470 lux, the LEDs have a voltage of 7.5 volts. The control flies observed seem to show a stronger effect than in previous tests, which could be due to the use of a thinner fishing line (0.6 mm), which is easier to place correctly in the clamp of the joystick machine.
For the negative and positive control we used the line norpAP24;Gr28bd+TrpA1>Chrimson.
Category: Optogenetics | No Comments