Lisa Scheunemann: Serotonin-Dopamine interplay toggles action selection and memory consolidation in Drosophila

Free University Berlin / Freie Universität Berlin

Abstract

Incentive-driven behaviors, such as reproduction, motivate actions that influence sensory
processing, decision-making, and memory. However, the neural mechanisms underlying the
prioritization of competing behavioral choices, particularly in balancing risk and reward, remain
incompletely understood. In Drosophila, mating and courtship significantly impact cognitive
and sensory processing, modifying behaviors like memory retention and risk perception in
response to reproductive cues. In females, mating experience enhances aversive long-term
memory, a process mediated by the male-derived sex peptide. This peptide activates a specific
pair of serotonergic neurons in the female brain, engaging the cAMP/PKA pathway and
subsequently enhancing memory through downstream dopaminergic signaling. In males,
courtship shifts sensory perception as dopamine reduces threat detection when mating
opportunities arise. Initially, threat-sensitive visual neurons inhibit courtship via serotonergic
pathways, helping males prioritize survival. As courtship progresses, dopaminergic signaling
suppresses this inhibition, enabling males to focus on mating over self-preservation. Together,
these findings reveal how mating-associated neuromodulation in Drosophila drives adaptive
changes in memory and sensory processing, optimizing reproductive behaviors.

 

AG Scheunemann
Group Leader/Emmy-Noether Fellow

 

Guests are welcome!

 

Organized by

Michael Brecht / Lisa Rosenblum