Mohandasan, R., Thakare, M., Sunke, S., Iqbal, F.M., Sridharan, M., Das, G. (2022). Enhanced olfactory memory detection in trap-design Y-mazes allows the study of imperceptible memory traces in Drosophila.  Learn. Mem. 29(10): 355--366.

FBrf0254584

Research paper

The neural basis of behavior is identified by systematically manipulating the activity of specific neurons and screening for loss or gain of phenotype. Therefore, robust, high-scoring behavioral assays are necessary for determining the neural circuits of novel behaviors. We report a simple Y-maze design for Drosophila olfactory learning and memory assay. Memory scores in our Y-mazes are considerably better and longer-lasting than scores obtained with commonly used T-mazes. Our results suggest that trapping flies to an odor choice in a Y-maze could improve scores. We postulated that the improved scores could reveal previously undetectable memory traces, enabling the study of underlying neural mechanisms. Indeed, we identified unreported protein synthesis-dependent long-term memories (LTMs), reinforced by ingestion of (1) an aversive compound and (2) a sweet but nonnutritious sugar, both 24 h after training. We also used Y-mazes to probe how using a greater reward may change memory dynamics. Our findings predict that a greater sugar reward may extend existing memory traces or reinforce additional novel ones.

PMC9536757 (PMC) (EuropePMC)