An important strategy for efficient neural coding is to match the range of cellular responses to the distribution of relevant input signals. However, the structure and relevance of sensory signals depend on behavioral state. Here, we show that behavior modifies neural activity at the earliest stages of fly vision. We describe a class of wide-field neurons that provide feedback to the most perip...

Issue Assessment of the potential risks to health from natural health products containing synephrine and/or octopamine in combination with caffeine. various products not licensed for sale in Canada Type of Product Natural Health Products Common Name (if any) various Medicinal/Active Ingredient(s) Synephrine and/or Octopamine and Caffeine Dosage Form(s) various Strength(s) various Route of Admin...

Latent inhibition (LI) is a decrement in learning performance that results from the nonreinforced pre-exposure of the to-be-conditioned stimulus, in both vertebrates and invertebrates. In vertebrates, LI development involves dopamine and serotonin; in invertebrates there is yet no information. We studied differential olfactory conditioning of the proboscis extension response in the honeybee Api...

Octopamine plays an important role in many behaviors in invertebrates. It acts via binding to G protein coupled receptors located on the plasma membrane of responsive cells. Several distinct subtypes of octopamine receptors have been found in invertebrates, yet little is known about the expression pattern of these different receptor subtypes and how each subtype may contribute to different beha...

Two unpaired median cells (MCI and MC2) had a temporal pattern of firing that correlated with phasic muscular activity in preparations of larval Antheraea pernyi, and previous work has indicated that the axons of median cells are associated with nerve trunks innervating blocks of muscle. In spite of this, action potentials in median cells were not found to have any one-for-one effects on either...

We describe the cloning and functional expression of a cDNA encoding a novel G protein-coupled receptor, which was isolated from the central nervous system of the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis. The amino acid sequence predicted by this cDNA shows highest similarity with the sequence of the Locusta tyramine receptor, the Drosophila tyramine/octopamine receptor, and the mammalian alpha-adrenergic ...

The insect olfactory system, which includes the antennal lobe (AL), mushroom body (MB), and ancillary structures, is a relatively simple neural system capable of learning. Its structural features, which are widespread in biological neural systems, process olfactory stimuli through a cascade of networks where large dimension shifts occur from stage to stage and where sparsity and randomness play...