Threat displays are a universal feature of agonistic interactions. Whether threats are part of a continuum of aggressive behaviors or separately controlled remains unclear. We analyze threats in Drosophila and show they are triggered by male cues and visual motion, and comprised of multiple motor elements that can be flexibly combined. We isolate a cluster of ∼3 neurons whose activity is necessary for threat displays but not for other aggressive behaviors, and whose artificial activation suffices to evoke naturalistic threats in solitary flies, suggesting that the neural control of threats is modular with respect to other aggressive behaviors. Artificially evoked threats suffice to repel opponents from a resource in the absence of contact aggression. Depending on its level of artificial activation, this neural threat module can evoke different motor elements in a threshold-dependent manner. Such scalable modules may represent fundamental "building blocks" of neural circuits that mediate complex multi-motor behaviors.
Pubmed ID: 30415997 RIS Download
Publication data is provided by the National Library of Medicine ® and PubMed ®. Data is retrieved from PubMed ® on a weekly schedule. For terms and conditions see the National Library of Medicine Terms and Conditions.
This monoclonal targets Bruchpilot
View all literature mentionsThis polyclonal secondary targets IgG (H+L)
View all literature mentionsThis polyclonal targets IgG (H+L)
View all literature mentionsThis unknown targets Mouse IgG (H+L)
View all literature mentionsThis monoclonal targets Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP)
View all literature mentionsThis polyclonal targets GFP
View all literature mentionsThis polyclonal targets DsRed
View all literature mentionsThis polyclonal secondary targets IgG (H+L)
View all literature mentionsSoftware package as distribution of ImageJ and ImageJ2 together with Java, Java3D and plugins organized into coherent menu structure. Used to assist research in life sciences.
View all literature mentionsMulti paradigm numerical computing environment and fourth generation programming language developed by MathWorks. Allows matrix manipulations, plotting of functions and data, implementation of algorithms, creation of user interfaces, and interfacing with programs written in other languages, including C, C++, Java, Fortran and Python. Used to explore and visualize ideas and collaborate across disciplines including signal and image processing, communications, control systems, and computational finance.
View all literature mentionsDrosophila melanogaster with name w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=GMR21B10-GAL4}attP2 from BDSC.
View all literature mentionsDrosophila melanogaster with name w[*] norpA[P24] from BDSC.
View all literature mentionsDrosophila melanogaster with name w[1118]; P{y[+t7.7] w[+mC]=R20E08-GAL4.DBD}attP2 from BDSC.
View all literature mentionsThis monoclonal targets Bruchpilot
View all literature mentionsSoftware package as distribution of ImageJ and ImageJ2 together with Java, Java3D and plugins organized into coherent menu structure. Used to assist research in life sciences.
View all literature mentionsThis monoclonal targets Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP)
View all literature mentions