1.Dopamine System Is Involved In The Visual Attention-like Behavior In Drosophila 2.Calcium-influx-dependent Spontaneous Calcium Transients In The Eye-disc Of The Drosophila Larvae

Dopamine is a major neuromodulator in both vertebrates and invertebrates, and has profound effects on many physiological processes, including the regulation of attention. The goal of the present study is to determine the role of dopamine in attention-like behavior in Drosophila by taking advantage of the fly's orientation behavior during flight. The examination of several different transgenic flies in a single-target visual attention paradigm showed that flies lost their orientation ability if dopamine release was blocked from the beginning of the development of dopaminergic neurons. This is comparable to the attention loss in mammals. However, if the blockade of dopamine release was induced during the experimental procedure, flies performed normally. Statistical analysis of the behavioral assessment showed a significant difference between long-term blockade and transient blockade. Using the RNA interference (RNAi) approach, we generated flies with down-regulated J-domain protein (JDP), which is a potential co-chaperone in synaptic vesicle release, to make an alternative form of long-term dopamine-blockade mutant. Behavioral assays revealed that flies with permanent JDP down-regulation specifically in dopaminergic neurons have an attention defect similar to that induced by long-term blockade of dopamine release. Furthermore, dopamine depletion beginning at eclosion caused an attention deficit as well. Our results indicate that prolonged blockade, but not transient blockade of dopamine release, impairs visual attention-like behavior in Drosophila.