Acetylcholine from Visual Circuits Modulates the Activity of Arousal Neurons in Drosophila.
Muraro NI, Ceriani MF.
J Neurosci. 2015 Dec 16;35(50):16315-27. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1571-15.
Circadian rhythms are important for organisms to be able to anticipate daily changes in environmental conditions to adjust physiology and
behavior accordingly. These rhythms depend on an endogenous mechanism that operates in dedicated neurons. In the fruit fly, the large lateral ventral neurons (lLNvs) are part of both the circadian and sleep-arousal neuronal circuits. Here, we provide new details about the firing properties of these neurons and demonstrate that they depend not only on cell-autonomous mechanisms, but also on a specific neurotransmitter derived from visual circuits. Our work sheds light on the physiological properties of lLNvs and on a neuronal circuit that may provide visual information to these important arousal neurons.
behavior accordingly. These rhythms depend on an endogenous mechanism that operates in dedicated neurons. In the fruit fly, the large lateral ventral neurons (lLNvs) are part of both the circadian and sleep-arousal neuronal circuits. Here, we provide new details about the firing properties of these neurons and demonstrate that they depend not only on cell-autonomous mechanisms, but also on a specific neurotransmitter derived from visual circuits. Our work sheds light on the physiological properties of lLNvs and on a neuronal circuit that may provide visual information to these important arousal neurons.