Influence of behavioral state on decision making and perception
Recently, we have expanded our interest from trying to understand the role of a specific brain center, such as the mushroom body, to characterizing the role of brain-wide neuronal activity that arises, for example, during movement. To this end, we have successfully adapted and further improved a method developed by Aimon and colleagues (wholebrain light-field imaging). It allows us to observe the whole brain of a fly in the context of an animal's momentary behavior and decision making.
Active movement influences our brain states
Using this method, we have shown, for example, that spontaneous and forced walking on a treadmill elicit very similar brain-wide activity states. These brain states result from the combined activity of several types of neurons, including neuromodulatory neurons and their specific activation patterns during movement. Our results show, from a whole-brain perspective, how active movement can change the way animals, including humans, perceive and interpret the world around them.
Valence and state-dependent population coding in dopaminergic neurons in the fly mushroom body
K.P. Siju, Vilim Stih, Sophie Aimon, Julijana Gjorgjieva, Ruben Portugues, Ilona C. Grunwald Kadow.
(2020). Current Biology 30(11):2104-2115
Studying complex brain dynamics using Drosophila
Aimon, S and Grunwald Kadow, IC.
(2020). Journal of Neurogenetics 34(1):171-177