Linked Life Data

19614975

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/19614975

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
2
pubmed:dateCreated
2009-8-7
pubmed:abstractText
The brain mechanisms by which animals deal with multiple experiences to predict outcomes are not yet fully understood. We explored the choice strategies that flies use to assess degrees of disadvantage, as well as how flies weigh past and recent experiences to guide decisions. Drosophila were exposed to two conditioning events in a T-maze: an odor paired with an electric shock followed by a second odor paired with an electric shock of a different intensity. Subsequently, flies were forced to choose between the two odors. We found that flies chose to avoid the more 'dangerous' odor by a linear subtraction mechanism that was based on two coexisting memories. We also found that flies weighed experiences of the same danger level (60 V electric shocks) according to the times when the experiences had occurred. More recent experiences had a greater impact and past experiences gradually became 'overlooked' during decisions as the time delay between the two events lengthened. However, the past memory was not so much disrupted as it was overshadowed by recent memories during decisions. Finally, when a past experience was more disadvantageous, wild-type flies were able to coordinate both the temporal factor and the degree of disadvantage into their decisions. By contrast, amnesiac mutant flies made choices completely according to the temporal factor, ignoring the degree of disadvantage. Taken together, wild-type flies are able to store multiple olfactory memories and can coherently evaluate learned experiences to guide their decisions according to the degree of disadvantage and/or the temporal factor.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jul
pubmed:issn
1460-9568
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Electronic
pubmed:volume
30
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
279-88
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2009
pubmed:articleTitle
Choice strategies in Drosophila are based on competition between olfactory memories.
pubmed:affiliation
State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Comparative Study, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't