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·March 31, 2011·4 min read

Fruit Fly’s Response to Starvation Could Help Control Human Appetites

Biologists at UC San Diego have identified the molecular mechanisms triggered by starvation in fruit flies that enhance the nervous...

Featured Neuroscience

·August 18, 2011·5 min read

Neuroscientists Show Activity Patterns in Fly Brain are Optimized for Memory Storage

We know from experience that particular smells are almost inseparable in our minds with memories, some vague and others very...

Featured Neuroscience Neuroscience Videos

·March 19, 2012·4 min read

Smell is a Symphony

Stowers researchers present a new model for how the brain is organized to process odor information. Just like a road...

Featured Neuroscience

·March 30, 2012·2 min read

The Electronic Nose Knows When Your Cantaloupe is Ripe

Have you ever been disappointed by a cantaloupe from the grocery store? Too ripe? Not ripe enough? Luckily for you,...

Featured Neuroscience

·July 18, 2012·3 min read

Dopamine: A Substance with Many Messages

Researchers recently localised and identified the most important types of nerve cells involved in forming positive and negative memories of a fruit fly. All four nerve cell types they discovered use dopamine to communicate with other nerve cells. Three of the nerve cell types assume various functions in mediating negative stimuli, while the fourth enables the fly to form positive memories.

Featured Psychology

·September 20, 2012·2 min read

‘Psychopaths’ Have An Impaired Sense of Smell

People with psychopathic tendencies have an impaired sense of smell, which points to inefficient processing in the front part of the brain (orbitofrontal cortex) according to a new study.

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·October 4, 2012·4 min read

Babies Learn the Smell of Mum

Newborn mice use mom's unique odor, not a pheromone, to begin breastfeeding.

Featured Genetics

·May 29, 2013·3 min read

Genetic Engineering Alters Mosquitoes’ Sense of Smell

In one of the first successful attempts at genetically engineering mosquitoes, HHMI researchers have altered the way the insects respond to odors, including the smell of humans and the insect repellant DEET.

The images above depict the activity of the mushroom body Kenyon cells in the fruit fly brain in response to 3 different odors.

Featured Neuroscience

·June 18, 2013·4 min read

The Discerning Fruit Fly: Linking Brain-Cell Activity and Behavior in Smell Recognition

Researchers have mapped the activity of brain cells in the mushroom body of flies conditioned to have Pavlovian behavioral responses to different odors. The findings suggest the activity of as few as 25 neurons are required to be able to distinguish between different odors.

This is a diagram of the human olfactory system

Featured Neuroscience

·September 24, 2013·3 min read

A Shot of Anxiety and the World Stinks

A new neuroimaging study reveals how anxiety or stress can link areas of the brain for emotion and olfactory processing, making neutral odors smell malodorous.

The image shows the neurons in the fruit fly. The caption best describes the image.

Featured Neuroscience

·October 7, 2013·3 min read

How Neurons Enable Us to Know Smells We Like and Dislike, Whether to Approach or Retreat

Researchers reveal neurons in the brains of fruit flies which specifically respond to food odors.The findings could help scientists better understand why obese people choose to eat certain foods.