Basic organization of operant behavior as revealed in Drosophila flight orientation

Abstract

Operant behavior is studied in tethered Drosophila flies using visual motion, heat or odour as operandum and yaw torque, thrust or direction of flight as operans in various combinations (Fig. 1). On the basis of these results a conceptual framework of operant behavior is proposed: (1) It requires a goal (desired state) of which the actual state deviates. (2) To attain the goal a range of motor programs is activated (initiating activity, see Fig. 7). (3) Efference copies of the motor programs are compared to the sensory input referring to the deviation from the desired state (e.g. by cross-correlation). (4) In case of a significant coincidence the respective motor program is used to modify the sensory input in the direction towards the goal. (5) Consistent control of a sensory stimulus by a behavior may lead to a more permanent behavioral change (conditioning). In this scheme operant activity (1-4) and operant conditioning (1-5) are distinguished.

Dissociation of visual associative and motor learning in Drosophila at the flight simulator

“…The polarity of yaw torque is related to the turning direction of the flies in the flight simulator (positive torques represent clockwise turning actions and vice versa). Although earlier works have described the flies' flexibility to prefer one turning direction according to the association between torque polarity and heat punishment in an environment without any visual cue (Wolf and Heisenberg, 1991;Wolf et al, 1998), our analysis revealed no significant correlation between the torque polarity and the angular position in the paradigm. Therefore, the torque-position map analysis only studied the relationship between the torque amplitude and the angular position of the arena.…”

“…Through a closed feedback the fly could control the rotation of the panorama with its yaw torque output. stable flight (Heisenberg and Wolf, 1984;Wolf and Heisenberg, 1991). A torque meter was the core device of the flight simulator, on which individual flies were attached by a glued hook to the head and thorax.…”

“…Flight orientation histogram and PI evaluation were previously introduced to estimate the fly's learning and memory performance (Wolf and Heisenberg, 1991). The times a fly spent at each angular position were counted out from the originally recorded angular position trace and were illustrated in the flight orientation histogram (Fig.…”

“…The yaw torque is mostly produced by the differentially beating wings of the fly. Yaw torque plays a role of 'operant' in the operant conditioning paradigm and has been regarded as one of the most important components in the conditioning feedback between the flies' behaviour and the negative reinforcer (see also, Wolf and Heisenberg, 1991;Heisenberg et al, 2001). Therefore, we did yaw torque analyses of the flies' conditioned behaviour.…”

“…Since the paradigm was first reported (Wolf and Heisenberg, 1991), performance index (PI) has been introduced as a behavioural index to evaluate the flies' learning and memory abilities. In operant conditioning, the flight direction that the fly chooses determines the delivery of the reinforcer; the fly's own behavioural output is involved in conditioning.…”