ERIC Number: EJ1235291
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019-Nov
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1072-0502
EISSN: N/A
Reversal Learning in "Drosophila" Larvae
Mancini, Nino; Hranova, Sia; Weber, Julia; Weiglein, Alice; Schleyer, Michael; Weber, Denise; Thum, Andreas S.; Gerber, Bertram
Learning & Memory, v26 n11 p424-435 Nov 2019
Adjusting behavior to changed environmental contingencies is critical for survival, and reversal learning provides an experimental handle on such cognitive flexibility. Here, we investigate reversal learning in larval "Drosophila." Using odor-taste associations, we establish olfactory reversal learning in the appetitive and the aversive domain, using either fructose as a reward or high-concentration sodium chloride as a punishment, respectively. Reversal learning is demonstrated both in differential and in absolute conditioning, in either valence domain. In differential conditioning, the animals are first trained such that an odor A is paired, for example, with the reward whereas odor B is not (A+/B); this is followed by a second training phase with reversed contingencies (A/B+). In absolute conditioning, odor B is omitted, such that the animals are first trained with paired presentations of A and reward, followed by unpaired training in the second training phase. Our results reveal "true" reversal learning in that the opposite associative effects of both the first and the second training phase are detectable after reversed-contingency training. In what is a surprisingly quick, one-trial contingency adjustment in the "Drosophila" larva, the present study establishes a simple and genetically easy accessible study case of cognitive flexibility.
Descriptors: Learning Processes, Olfactory Perception, Rewards, Punishment, Entomology, Conditioning, Animals, Training, Contingency Management
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. 500 Sunnyside Boulevard, Woodbury, NY 11797-2924. Tel: 800-843-4388; Tel: 516-367-8800; Fax: 516-422-4097; e-mail: cshpres@cshl.edu; Web site: http://learnmem.cshlp.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A