Motor learning is central to human existence, such as learning to speak or walk, sports moves, or rehabilitation after injury. Evidence suggests that all forms of motor learning share an evolutionarily conserved molecular plasticity pathway. Here, we present novel insights […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Archive for original-research
30 results.
In mammals, dopamine is considered a central neuromodulator involved in all kinds of rewarding experiences (‘common currency’ hypothesis). In insects, the role of dopaminergic neurons in aversive stimuli was discovered before dopaminergic neurons were found to also be involved in […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Motor learning, skill-learning or habit formation share conceptual similarities, but it is debated how much biology these processes have in common. There is genetic evidence linking motor learning and habit formation in flies, song-learning in birds and language acquisition in […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Our own unique character traits make our behavior consistent and define our individuality. Yet, this consistency does not entail that we behave repetitively like machines. Like humans, animals also combine personality traits with spontaneity to produce adaptive behavior: consistent, but […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
For decades, the supra-inflation increase of subscription prices for scholarly journals has concerned scholarly institutions. After years of fruitless efforts to solve this “serials crisis”, open access has been proposed as the latest potential solution. However, also the prices for […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
The biogenic amine octopamine (OA) and its precursor tyramine (TA) are involved in controlling a plethora of different physiological and behavioral processes. The tyramine-β-hydroxylase (tβh) gene encodes the enzyme catalyzing the last synthesis step from TA to OA. Here, we […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
The FoxP family of transcription factors is necessary for operant self-learning, an evolutionary conserved form of motor learning. The expression pattern, molecular function and mechanisms of action of the Drosophila FoxP orthologue remain to be elucidated. By editing the genomic […] ↓ 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…
All animals constantly negotiate external with internal demands before and during action selection. Energy homeostasis is a major internal factor biasing action selection. For instance, in addition to physiologically regulating carbohydrate mobilization, starvation-induced sugar shortage also biases action selection toward […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Like a moth into the flame—phototaxis is an iconic example for innate preferences. Such preferences probably reflect evolutionary adaptations to predictable situations and have traditionally been conceptualized as hard-wired stimulus–response links. Perhaps for that reason, the century-old discovery of flexibility […] ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
