QBI Seminar: The superior serotonergic neurons promote tranquillity in Drosophila

Event Details

Date:

Monday, 02 February 2015 - Monday, 02 February 2015

Time:

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Room:

QBI Level 7 Auditorium

UQ Location:

Queensland Brain Institute (St Lucia)

URL:

http://www.qbi.uq.edu.au/neuroscience-seminars

Event category(s):

Full Description:: Dr Adam Claridge-Chang
Assistant Professor at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore
Title: The superior serotonergic neurons promote tranquillity in Drosophila
Abstract:
Modeling anxiety and its disorders with a small neurogenetic animal would assist the elucidation of their neuronal and molecular bases. Two Drosophila behaviors - wall following and light-dark choice - were proposed to be anxiety-related defense behaviors. Meta-analysis of behavioral manipulations in rodents identified a panel of authentic anxiety-related interventions. These pharmacological treatments, genetic lesions, environmental manipulations and molecular stress responses all produced effects in fly defense behaviors that were concordant with anxiety-related behaviors in mammals. These fly assays were then used to establish conserved roles for orthologs of novel candidate mammalian anxiety genes. In addition, thermogenetic activation of serotonergic neurons revealed that this system reduces fly anxiety-related behaviors. Behavioral-anatomical analysis of serotonergic circuits identified a specific cluster of seven posteromedial 5-HT neurons that promote behavioral tranquillity. These results verify the hypothesis that the insect brain uses a multimodal stress signaling system to regulate an anxiety-like state through highly conserved neurogenetic mechanisms.