@article {70035, title = {Cell type-specific contributions to a persistent aggressive internal state in female Drosophila}, journal = {Elife}, volume = {12}, year = {2025}, month = {2025 Jul 25}, abstract = {

Persistent internal states are important for maintaining survival-promoting behaviors, such as aggression. In female\ Drosophila melanogaster, we have previously shown that individually activating either aIPg or pC1d cell types can induce aggression. Here we investigate further the individual roles of these cholinergic, sexually dimorphic cell types, and the reciprocal connections between them, in generating a persistent aggressive internal state. We find that a brief 30-second optogenetic stimulation of aIPg neurons was sufficient to promote an aggressive internal state lasting at least 10 minutes, whereas similar stimulation of pC1d neurons did not. While we previously showed that stimulation of pC1e alone does not evoke aggression, persistent behavior could be promoted through simultaneous stimulation of pC1d and pC1e, suggesting an unexpected synergy of these cell types in establishing a persistent aggressive state. Neither aIPg nor pC1d show persistent neuronal activity themselves, implying that the persistent internal state is maintained by other mechanisms. Moreover, inactivation of pC1d did not significantly reduce aIPg-evoked persistent aggression, arguing that the aggressive state did not depend on pC1d-aIPg recurrent connectivity. Our results suggest the need for alternative models to explain persistent female aggression.

Preprint:\ https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.07.543722v2

}, keywords = {Aggression, Animals, Behavior, Animal, Drosophila melanogaster, Female, Neurons, Optogenetics}, issn = {2050-084X}, doi = {10.7554/eLife.88598}, url = {https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.88598}, author = {Chiu, Hui and Robie, Alice A and Branson, Kristin and Vippa, Tanvi and Epstein, Samantha and Rubin, Gerald M and Anderson, David J and Schretter, Catherine E} } @article {48764, title = {A circuit node that integrates convergent input from neuromodulatory and social behavior-promoting neurons to control aggression in Drosophila.}, journal = {Neuron}, volume = {95}, year = {2017}, month = {2017 Aug 30}, pages = {1112-1128.e7}, abstract = {

Diffuse neuromodulatory systems such as norepinephrine (NE) control brain-wide states such as arousal, but whether they control complex social behaviors more specifically is not clear. Octopamine (OA), the insect homolog of NE, is known to promote both arousal and aggression. We have performed a\ systematic, unbiased screen to identify OA receptor-expressing neurons (OARNs) that control aggression in Drosophila. Our results uncover a tiny population of male-specific aSP2 neurons that mediate a specific influence of OA on aggression, independent of any effect on arousal. Unexpectedly, these neurons receive convergent input from OA neurons and P1 neurons, a population of FruM(+) neurons that promotes male courtship behavior. Behavioral epistasis experiments suggest that aSP2 neurons may constitute an integration node at which OAergic neuromodulation can bias the output of P1 neurons to favor aggression over inter-male courtship. These results have potential implications for thinking about\ the role of related neuromodulatory systems in mammals.

}, issn = {1097-4199}, doi = {10.1016/j.neuron.2017.08.017}, author = {Watanabe, Kiichi and Chiu, Hui and Pfeiffer, Barret D and Wong, Allan M and Hoopfer, Eric D and Rubin, Gerald M and Anderson, David J} }