Behavioral Assays for Optogenetic Manipulation of Neural Circuits in Drosophila melanogasterAinul Huda *1, Thomas J. Vaden *1, Hua Bai 1, Riley T. Rawls 1, Rebecca J. Peppers 2, Charlotte F. Monck 1, Henry D. Holley 1, Allison N. Castaneda 1,3, Lina Ni 1
1School of Neuroscience, Virginia Tech, 2Academy of Integrated Science, Virginia Tech, 3Fairfax County Public Schools, Westfield High School
This paper presents methods for optogenetic manipulation in Drosophila melanogaster, utilizing CsChrimson and GtACR2 to activate and silence specific neurons. Four experiments are described to utilize optogenetics to explore thermotactic and gustatory behaviors, providing insights into the underlying neural mechanisms governing these processes.
