Widely used in the field of neuroscience, the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) is a study model able to modify its behavior after an elementary task.

The fly is subject to a problem where two odors, A and B, are sequentially associated with electric shocks, after which these same odors are represented together (AB) without electric shock. When the fly is confronted once with this task, it tends to represent AB as the sum of two previously punished odors. On the other hand, when confronted several times with this task, the fly tends to represent AB as different from A and B alone. © CRCA

For the first time, Matthias Durrieu, Antoine Wystrach, Patrick Arrufat, Martin Giurfa and Guillaume Isabel from the CRCA have just experimentally showed that fruit flies can solve a more complex learning task.

This study was recently published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Reference

Matthias Durrieu, Antoine Wystrach, Patrick Arrufat, Martin Giurfa and Guillaume Isabel

Fruit flies can learn non-elemental olfactory discriminations

Proc. R. Soc. B 287: 20201234.

Contacts

Matthias Durrieu & Guillaume Isabel