# The mechanisms of connectivity and function underlying multisensory integration in the Drosophila melanogaster mushroom body

> **NIH NIH R01** · UTAH STATE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM--UNIVERSITY OF UTAH · 2020 · $333,594

## Abstract

SUMMARY
Multisensory integration is a fundamental function of the brain whereby the information collected through
different sensory modalities is combined to form a unified percept. Defects in multisensory integration can
affect perception and are a hallmark of many mental illnesses including autism spectrum disorders. Despite its
fundamental role in the healthy and diseased brain, it remains unclear how multisensory integration is
implemented in the brain, at the level of neuronal networks. This gap in our knowledge stems largely from the
fact that multisensory integration has been primarily studied in the primate brain, where it is difficult to
understand how neuronal activity patterns emerge from a specific connectivity architecture.
 In this proposal, we are putting forward a plan to investigate the basic mechanisms of multisensory
integration using the Drosophila mushroom body as a model system. The mushroom body has been primarily
investigated as an olfactory brain center but recent studies, including our own preliminary data, suggest that it
is also a site for multisensory integration. The central hypothesis tested in this proposal is that the mushroom
body integrates sensory information through two different mechanisms: an additive mechanism, whereby
individual mushroom body neurons receive input only from only one sensory system and an integrative
mechanism whereby individual mushroom body neurons integrate input from multiple sensory systems. In our
preliminary analyses, we have identified the neurons projecting from different sensory centers — including
visual, olfactory, gustatory, thermosensory and hygrosensory centers — to the mushroom body. We are
proposing to test our leading hypothesis by pursuing three specific aims. First, we will determine how individual
mushroom body neurons are connected to different sensory systems using a neuronal tracing technique we
have developed. Second, we will determine how the entire population of mushroom body neurons responds to
multisensory stimuli using calcium imaging. Third, we will determine whether, when learning complex
multisensory stimuli, Drosophila learns individual features of these stimuli.
 Altogether, these three aims will provide anatomical, functional and behavioral evidence supporting our
hypothesis. Once completed, this proposal will have delineated the basic mechanisms of connectivity and
function underlying multisensory integration in the mushroom body. Given that many fundamental design
principles of sensory systems are conserved between invertebrates and vertebrates, it is likely that the
mechanisms of connectivity and function underlying multisensory integration in Drosophila will too be
conserved in the more complex mammalian brain. The overarching goal of our research program is to apply
our findings to a broader context: we believe that by understanding better how the numerically simple
Drosophila mushroom body integrates, represents and transforms multisensory informati...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9971602
- **Project number:** 5R01NS106018-03
- **Recipient organization:** UTAH STATE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM--UNIVERSITY OF UTAH
- **Principal Investigator:** Sophie Caron
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $333,594
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-30 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9971602

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9971602, The mechanisms of connectivity and function underlying multisensory integration in the Drosophila melanogaster mushroom body (5R01NS106018-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9971602. Licensed CC0.

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