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Controlling airborne cues to study small animal navigation.

Marc Gershow¹, Matthew Berck, Dennis Mathew

¹Department of Physics and Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

|January 17, 2012

Summary

Researchers developed a new system to precisely control airborne chemical cues for studying how small animals navigate. This system was used to quantify the navigational decisions of fruit fly larvae in response to attractants and repellents.

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Area of Science:

Animal behavior
Neuroethology
Chemical sensing

Background:

Small animals use airborne chemical cues for navigation.
Studying this behavior is challenging due to difficulties in controlling stimuli precisely.

Purpose of the Study:

To present a novel system for delivering controlled gaseous stimuli to freely moving small animals.
To quantify the navigational decision-making of Drosophila melanogaster larvae.

Main Methods:

Development of a system for spatial and temporal delivery of gaseous stimuli.
Utilizing machine-vision algorithms to track and analyze animal movement.
Exposing fruit fly larvae to controlled patterns of ethyl acetate and carbon dioxide.

Main Results:

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The system allows for precise control over airborne cue delivery.
Quantified navigational responses of Drosophila melanogaster larvae to specific volatile compounds.
Demonstrated the system's efficacy in studying chemo-navigational behavior.

Conclusions:

The developed apparatus overcomes limitations in studying airborne cue-guided navigation.
Provides a quantitative method for assessing decision-making in response to chemical stimuli.
Opens new avenues for research into the neurobiology of olfaction and navigation in small animals.