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Science 16 March 2007:
Vol. 315. no. 5818, pp. 1590 - 1593
DOI: 10.1126/science.1137931
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Reports

Attention-Like Processes in Drosophila Require Short-Term Memory Genes

Bruno van Swinderen

Although there is much behavioral evidence for complex brain functions in insects, it is not known whether insects have selective attention. In humans, selective attention is a dynamic process restricting perception to a succession of salient stimuli, while less relevant competing stimuli are suppressed. Local field potential recordings in the brains of flies responding to visual novelty revealed attention-like processes with stereotypical temporal properties. These processes were modulated by genes involved in short-term memory formation, namely dunce and rutabaga. Attention defects in these mutants were associated with distinct optomotor effects in behavioral assays.

The Neurosciences Institute, 10640 John Jay Hopkins Drive, San Diego, CA 92121, USA.

E-mail: van{at}nsi.edu

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)