Testing odor response stereotypy in the Drosophila mushroom body. Author Mala Murthy, Ila Fiete, Gilles Laurent Publication Year 2008 Type Journal Article Abstract The mushroom body is an insect brain structure required for olfactory learning. Its principal neurons, the Kenyon cells (KCs), form a large cell population. The neuronal populations from which their olfactory input derives (olfactory sensory and projection neurons) can be identified individually by genetic, anatomical, and physiological criteria. We ask whether KCs are similarly identifiable individually, using genetic markers and whole-cell patch-clamp in vivo. We find that across-animal responses are as diverse within the genetically labeled subset as across all KCs in a larger sample. These results combined with those from a simple model, using projection neuron odor responses as inputs, suggest that the precise circuit specification seen at earlier stages of odor processing is likely absent among the mushroom body KCs. Keywords Animals, Drosophila, Association Learning, Animals, Genetically Modified, Patch-Clamp Techniques, Behavior, Animal, Evoked Potentials, Genetic Markers, Mushroom Bodies, Neurons, Afferent, Neurons, Efferent, Olfactory Pathways, Smell, Stereotyped Behavior, Synapses, Synaptic Transmission Journal Neuron Volume 59 Issue 6 Pages 1009-23 Date Published 2008 Sep 25 ISSN Number 1097-4199 DOI 10.1016/j.neuron.2008.07.040 Alternate Journal Neuron PMCID PMC2654402 PMID 18817738 PubMedPubMed CentralGoogle ScholarBibTeXEndNote X3 XML