The FoxP gene family comprises a set of transcription factors that gained fame because of their involvement in the acquisition of speech and language. While early hypotheses circulated about its function as a ‘learning gene’, a simultaneous “motor-hypothesis” stipulated that […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
“Sshh, don’t tell anybody” Professor Troy Zars shushed me: “I have them!”. He was of course referring to fly stocks mutant for the CG16899 gene, now known as FoxP (forkhead box P). While this after-hours discussion took place in 2007 […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Fast object tracking in real time allows convenient tracking of very large numbers of animals and closed-loop experiments that control stimuli for many animals in parallel. We developed MARGO, a MATLAB-based, real-time animal tracking suite for custom behavioral experiments. We […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Tomorrow we travel to the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and our diligent scientists have already printed their posters! Ottavia Palazzo will present her work on genome editing the FoxP locus of Drosophila with anatomical and behavioral characterizations […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Learning is an essential component for an animal’s survival as it enables for better future decisions: such as finding more nutritious food or avoiding harmful stimuli. While the molecular mechanisms underlying learning and memory have been studied extensively, only little […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
The human FOXP2 (Forkhead Box P2) gene has been identified as a key component for the development of language. Such vocal learning is a form of motor learning that proceeds slowly from babbling in toddlers (or subsong in songbirds) towards […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Actions are followed by consequences, and each of these consequences has a subjective value. The value assigned to these consequences shape our future actions in what is often called “learning by doing”. But how is value conferred in the brain? […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Tethering a fly for stationary flight allows for exquisite control of its sensory input, such as visual or olfactory stimuli or a punishing infrared laser beam. A torque meter measures the turning attempts of the tethered fly around its vertical […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
This is the story behind our work on the function of the FoxP gene in the fruit fly Drosophila (more background info). As so many good things, it started with beer. Troy Zars and I were having a beer on […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
See this post with the associated press releases on brembs.net. The Forkhead Box P2 (FOXP2) gene is well-known for its involvement in language disorders. We have discovered that a relative of this gene in fruit flies, dFoxP, is necessary for […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
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