# The neuromodulatory role of dopamine signaling on locomotion of Drosophila Larvae

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI CORAL GABLES · 2024 · $47,446

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract – Stephanie Dancausse
Sensory experiences are detected by the peripheral nervous system (PNS) and then
transmitted to the central nervous system (CNS) where neurons within the brain respond
to produce appropriate behavioral output. These behavioral outputs include locomotion
whose underlying neural mechanisms are conserved throughout many taxa. Sensory
experiences or the action of neurotransmitters can act on the neural circuits that carry out
locomotion through various mechanisms to modulate its behavioral features. Dopamine,
a neurotransmitter in the CNS, is known to act as a neuromodulator of motor output,
however the exact neural circuits involved and the mechanisms by which the neural
activity modulates locomotion remain unknown. To do this, I will employ advanced genetic
tools to manipulate dopaminergic neuron activity in the CNS and record the larvae’s
resultant behavior with a novel robotic rig that allows for long-term behavioral assays on
the order of days. I find that larvae do modulate aspects of their locomotive behavior in
response to pharmacological manipulation of the dopaminergic pathway. In vivo neural
confocal microscopy and calcium imaging will be conducted to probe the descending
neural targets in the neural circuit that control larval locomotion. Manipulations of
identified neurons will be carried using genetic tools to demonstrate their roles in the
behaviors characterized. In this project I will 1) determine the behavioral impact of
dopamine signaling in the CNS through genetic manipulations and 2) identify and study
the downstream targets of dopamine neurons that control larval locomotion. These
experiments will use novel approaches and methods to understand the neuromodulatory
role of dopamine signaling on larval locomotion.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10902467
- **Project number:** 1F31NS134267-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI CORAL GABLES
- **Principal Investigator:** Stephanie Marie Dancausse Rodriguez
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $47,446
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-05-01 → 2027-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10902467

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10902467, The neuromodulatory role of dopamine signaling on locomotion of Drosophila Larvae (1F31NS134267-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10902467. Licensed CC0.

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