# Real-Time Measurements of Neurotransmission in Drosphilia melanogaster

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA · 2022 · $465,287

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
How does neuronal signaling control behavior? Neuroscientists answer this question by mapping neuronal
circuits, studying action potential firing, or monitoring the resultant neurochemicals released. Drosophila is a
model system used to map neural circuits and study cell firing during innate behaviors, such as feeding. Direct
measurements of neuromodulators are required to understand behavioral regulation because release is highly
heterogeneous and plastic; i.e. the same firing patterns elicit different neuromodulator release in different
circumstances due to complex regulation. To understand how neuromodulation regulates behavior or encodes
memories, we need tools to examine multiple neuromodulators throughout a circuit. The goal of this project is
to develop new multiplexed tools to study neuromodulator interactions in Drosophila during sugar feeding. The
central hypothesis is that dopamine, octopamine, and glutamate neuromodulation will occur only in discrete
neuropil, vary with frequency of sugar feeding, and be enhanced when sugar is paired with odors. This research
is significant because it will develop tools to map real-time signaling of multiple neuromodulators throughout a
circuit and use these tools to show how neuromodulator interactions in a circuit control appetitive memory
formation during sugar feeding. In Aim 1, we will develop new nanoelectrodes to co-detect octopamine and
dopamine using fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) and measure them in the mushroom body (MB) g5
compartment during sugar feeding. Octopamine modulation of dopamine will be tested by selectively activating
or suppressing a specific octopaminergic neuron. In Aim 2, the goal is to understand dopamine neuromodulation
during sugar feeding across compartments of the MB. A genetically-encoded dopamine sensor (GRABDA) will be
selectively expressed in either MB dopamine neurons or the protocerebral anterior medial (PAM) projection
neurons and dopamine recorded during sugar feeding and olfactory conditioning. In Aim 3, neuromodulation will
be mapped throughout a circuit that regulates sugar reward by measuring dopamine and octopamine in the g5
compartment of the mushroom body and glutamate signaling (iGluSnFR) from a mushroom body output neuron
in the superior medial protocerebrum. These experiments will be the first to multiplex FSCV and genetically
encoded sensors to understand how dopamine/octopamine regulation in the mushroom body controls output
signaling downstream in a circuit. The expected outcomes of this work are mapping of neuromodulator
interactions throughout a circuit in adult Drosophila during feeding and olfactory conditioning. The positive impact
will be advanced methods and foundational knowledge necessary to perform future studies of how genetics,
behavior, or disease alter neuromodulator release. The neuromodulators studied here are implicated in mental
health disorders, such as schizophrenia, compulsive eating, or addiction, and this...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10445433
- **Project number:** 2R01MH085159-11A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
- **Principal Investigator:** B. JILL VENTON
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $465,287
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2009-07-15 → 2027-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10445433

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10445433, Real-Time Measurements of Neurotransmission in Drosphilia melanogaster (2R01MH085159-11A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10445433. Licensed CC0.

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