Here, I present you the results of using Blue light for photopreference and adding a pulsed Red light. These experiments are controls required for using Optogenetics to study Photopreference. I used the Blue light at different intensities, and calculated the Choice Index (CI) and the proportion of flies in each tube of the T-Maze (White: Bright, Black: Dark, Grey: Elevator).

I am thinking of using optogenetics to study the neural substrates of photopreference. Here I present some controls that I have to do before starting. This is a T-Maze with blue light instead of with light.

These are the last controls I needed in order to be sure everything wrong was gone. They are not the best, but I think they show some clear results.

Yellow: Room Temperature

Green: 32°C

To find the source of the problems I have seen in the T-Maze, I use lines from our stock and tested them in the T-Maze. This were reared at 25°C.

N=10

Pilot experiment(N=20)

Diazepam Experiment(N=10)

Here is an update on the evaluation of the DA clusters in Photopreference.

I want to continue on the Diazepam project and look if Serotonergic or Gabaergic circuits are involved in modulating photo-preference in flies. To begin with, I tried to replicate Lena’s experiments involving the individual T-maze. Each fly was introduced at the decision point of the T maze and once the fly moves towards either the light or the dark, it was pulled out of the T-maze using suction and reintroduced to the decision point (Each fly was tested ten times). In the first few days, I tried to standardise the apparatus and the light intensity. The results below indicate the choice index of normal and clipped WTB flies.

I am still testing different GAL4s in order to find out the dopamine clusters involved in photopreference shift. Here are some new results.