Cognition, Behavior, and Memory
Author: Gerson Smith Asti Tello | Email: gersonasti8@gmail.com
Gerson Smith Asti Tello 1°, Beatriz Gil Marti 2°, Adriana Poza Rodriguez 2°, Julia Isidro Mezcua 2°, Francisco Martin Castro 2°, Esteban Javier Beckwith 1°
1° Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias (IFIBYNE) – UBA CONICET, Argentina
2° Cajal Institute, Madrid, Spain
Social interactions influence behavior in numerous species, including humans. Changes in food intake, sleep patterns, mood, and aggressiveness are prominent examples of such behavioral shifts. In the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, a pivotal model for probing the genetic underpinnings of behavior, sleep reduction coincide with increase feeding and heightened aggression during isolation. Our hypothesis posits that alterations in locomotion intensity arising from social isolation are sustained by long-term memory mechanisms triggered by the experience of solitude.
To test this, we stablished a socialization/isolation paradigm using a video-tracking system that measures movement patterns and evaluates sleep, mirroring prior observations. Following this, we administered a cold-shock protocol to impair the acquisition of this specific form of memory. Additionally, we examined the impact of solitude on two mutant fly strains with essential roles in memory acquisition and consolidation, namely rutabaga (rut) and dunce (dnc). Our findings pointed to a role for rut in this process. Employing a genetic strategy to selectively suppress rut expression in the mushroom bodies the memory acquisition hub in flies we demonstrated the suppression of behavioral alterations prompted by isolation. Subsequent experiments will involve the restoration of rut expression solely in this neuropil to further prove the implication of the memory systems in the bahvioral changes induced by isolation