Gilad Barnea

Abstract Animals use gustatory information to decide whether to ingest nutritious substances or avoid toxic ones. Although certain neurons in the gustatory circuits respond to both aversive and appetitive signals, how these neurons resolve inputs with opposing valences is unknown. Here, we examine how the Drosophila melanogaster neuropeptide leucokinin (LK) affects gustatory information processing to elicit the appropriate feeding behaviors.

Correction to: Nature Neuroscience https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-024-01815-z, published online 19 December 2024. In the version of the article initially published, details were omitted from the Methods section concerning the microinjection experiments. Notably, plasmids were always introduced into the yolk and not the nucleus of 1-cell stage embryos, and micropipettes were calibrated so that the diameter of the pressure-injected bolus was consistent.

Abstract Navigating animals must integrate a diverse array of sensory cues into a single locomotor decision. Insects perform intricate navigational feats using a brain region termed the central complex in which an animal's heading direction is transformed through several layers of circuitry to elicit goal-directed locomotion. These transformations occur mostly in the fan-shaped body (FB), a major locus of multi-sensory integration in the central complex.