NYSCF Innovator Sheds Light on Motivations for Animal Behavior
NewsNYSCF – Robertson Neuroscience Investigator Dr. Dragana Rogulja, Harvard Medical School, published her lastest research studying the sex drive of male fruit flies to glean insights into how animals choose behaviors.
Published in Neuron, the researchers showed that the mating drive in male fruit flies is controlled by dopamine levels in one specific area of the brain, shedding light on how animals make and carry out decisions to perform or not to perform a behavior. The findings showed how changes to an internal state, in this case dopamine levels, can change behavior against what an animal was previously motivated to do. This research helps shed light on how behaviors are motivated across species.