2025/06/08 by Ali Asgar Bohra, Guy Tear, Camilla Larsen +1 · 1 voice
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Neuroscience · #Insect Utilization and Effects #Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior #Neurobiology and Insect Physiology Research
paper · pdf · doi:10.1101/2025.06.04.657871
openalex publication_date 2025/06/08 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Abstract Adaptive decision-making emerges from the integration of innate preferences and learned experiences to guide behavior. Using Drosophila larvae as a model, we investigated the neural circuitry underlying olfactory processing, focusing on Odd neurons—a distinct neuronal population that receives innate valence signals from Kenyon cells (KCs) rather than lateral horn inputs. Through larval connectomics, trans-tango labeling, and detailed anatomical analyses, we found that Odd neurons integrate innate valence through dendro-dendritic connections with KCs and learned valence via inhibitory inputs from mushroom body output neurons (MBON-g1 and MBON-g2). Optogenetic silencing of Odd neurons disrupted larval chemotaxis and associative memory by selectively impairing memory retrieval, while sparing memory formation, and by altering the turn rate during navigation. These results suggest that Odd neurons serve as an integrative hub, converging innate olfactory cues with learned reinforcement signals to fine-tune navigational choices. This study illuminates how distinct neural pathways converge in the larval brain to shape behavior, offering novel insights into decision-making circuitry that may extend to more complex nervous systems.