Nature Communications, 22 October, 2020, DOI：https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19102-3

Social attraction in Drosophila is regulated by the mushroom body and serotonergic system

Yuanjie Sun, Rong Qiu, Xiaonan Li, Yaxin Cheng, Shan Gao, Fanchen Kong, Li Liu & Yan Zhu

Abstract

Sociality is among the most important motivators of human behaviour. However, the neural mechanisms determining levels of sociality are largely unknown, primarily due to a lack of suitable animal models. Here, we report the presence of a surprising degree of general sociality in Drosophila. A newly-developed paradigm to study social approach behaviour in flies reveal that social cues perceive through both vision and olfaction converged in a central brain region, the γ lobe of the mushroom body, which exhibite activation in response to social experience. The activity of these γ neurons control the motivational drive for social interaction. At the molecular level, the serotonergic system is critical for social affinity. These results demonstrate that Drosophila are highly sociable, providing a suitable model system for elucidating the mechanisms underlying the motivation for sociality.

Article link：https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19102-3