Silencing pC1 neurons in female flies diminished their interest in male partners and their suitor’s courtship songs. Stimulation was accomplished using optogenetics, a technique which allows researchers to precisely control the activity of specially modified light-sensitive neurons. stimulated or shut down pC1 circuits in female flies, and then recorded the insects’ interactions with male flies. To investigate this question, Deutsch et al. A group of female-specific, ‘pC1 neurons’ similar to P1 neurons could play this role, but it was unclear whether it could drive lasting changes in female fly behavior.
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However, less is known about the neural networks that underlie arousal in female flies. For instance, in male fruit flies, the activation of a particular circuit containing ‘P1 neurons’ can escalate aggressive and mating behaviors. Long-term mental states such as arousal and mood variations rely on persistent changes in the activity of certain neural circuits which have been difficult to identify. Our work thus links minutes-long persistent changes in behavior with persistent neural activity and recurrent circuit architecture in the female brain. We additionally find that pC1d/e activation drives long-lasting persistent neural activity in brain areas and cells overlapping with the pC1d/e neural network, including both Doublesex+ and Fruitless+ neurons. This reveals strong recurrent connectivity between, in particular, pC1d/e neurons and a specific subset of Fruitless+ neurons called aIPg.
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Using automated reconstruction of a volume electron microscopic (EM) image of the female brain, we map all inputs and outputs to both pC1d and pC1e. Here, we show that a subset of Doublesex+ pC1 neurons in the Drosophila female brain, called pC1d/e, can drive minutes-long changes in female behavior in the presence of males. Sustained changes in mood or action require persistent changes in neural activity, but it has been difficult to identify the neural circuit mechanisms that underlie persistent activity and contribute to long-lasting changes in behavior.