Sequential learning of pheromonal cues modulates memory consolidation in trainer-specific associative courtship conditioning.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Associative memory formation requires that animals choose predictors for experiences they need to remember. When an artificial odor is paired with an aversive experience, that odor becomes the predictor. In more natural settings, however, animals can have multiple salient experiences that need to be remembered and prioritized. The mechanisms by which animals deal with multiple experiences are incompletely understood.

Results

Here we show that Drosophila males can be trained to discriminate between different types of female pheromones; they suppress courtship specifically to the type of female that was associated with unsuccessful courtship. Such "trainer-specific" learning is mediated by hydrocarbon olfactory cues and modifies the male's processing of those cues.

SUBMITTER: Ejima A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2805828 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature