A rise-to-threshold process for a relative-value decision.
Nature
; 619(7970): 563-571, 2023 Jul.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37407812
ABSTRACT
Whereas progress has been made in the identification of neural signals related to rapid, cued decisions1-3, less is known about how brains guide and terminate more ethologically relevant decisions in which an animal's own behaviour governs the options experienced over minutes4-6. Drosophila search for many seconds to minutes for egg-laying sites with high relative value7,8 and have neurons, called oviDNs, whose activity fulfills necessity and sufficiency criteria for initiating the egg-deposition motor programme9. Here we show that oviDNs express a calcium signal that (1) dips when an egg is internally prepared (ovulated), (2) drifts up and down over seconds to minutes-in a manner influenced by the relative value of substrates-as a fly determines whether to lay an egg and (3) reaches a consistent peak level just before the abdomen bend for egg deposition. This signal is apparent in the cell bodies of oviDNs in the brain and it probably reflects a behaviourally relevant rise-to-threshold process in the ventral nerve cord, where the synaptic terminals of oviDNs are located and where their output can influence behaviour. We provide perturbational evidence that the egg-deposition motor programme is initiated once this process hits a threshold and that subthreshold variation in this process regulates the time spent considering options and, ultimately, the choice taken. Finally, we identify a small recurrent circuit that feeds into oviDNs and show that activity in each of its constituent cell types is required for laying an egg. These results argue that a rise-to-threshold process regulates a relative-value, self-paced decision and provide initial insight into the underlying circuit mechanism for building this process.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Oviposição
/
Tomada de Decisões
/
Drosophila melanogaster
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Nature
Ano de publicação:
2023
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Estados Unidos