Spying on Fly Brains: Neuron Activity During Social Behaviors

Discovering which neurons are active in flies when they're being social isn't easy. Flies are tiny and not see-through, making it tough to watch their brain cells in action. Scientists have tried invasive methods like Flyception, but these don't let flies fully perform social behaviors like fighting or mating. This raises a big question: are the brain cells thought to be important for these behaviors actually active when flies do them naturally? To answer this, scientists used a special method called HCR-3. 0 to map brain-wide neuron activity in flies during social behaviors. They focused on cells that produce a specific gene called hr38. They found that certain brain cells, like P1a cells, are active during both courtship and aggression. By shining light on these cells using optogenetics, they could see which other brain cells might be influenced by them. They also found that different P1a cells might be active at different times during these behaviors. This new way of studying fly brains could help fill a gap in our toolbox for understanding how their brains work.