Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0001-1735-8338

Semester

Summer

Date of Graduation

2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Biology

Committee Chair

Andrew Dacks

Committee Member

Sadie Bergeron

Committee Member

Kevin Daly

Committee Member

Gary Marsat

Committee Member

John Tuthill

Abstract

Corollary discharge circuits (CDCs) are conserved mechanisms for sensory modulation during species specific behavioral programs. Many behaviors require multiplexed differential sensory modulation for proper execution. Co-transmission of fast and slow neurotransmitters allows for distinct modulation of different downstream targets within one sensorimotor circuit. However, studying co-transmission within the context of modulatory circuits like CDCs requires complete knowledge of behavioral circuits and precise tools for individually determining the implications of each transmitter on its targets. In this dissertation, I used a conserved set of corollary discharge interneurons in Drosophila melanogaster as a model to study the intricacies of sensory modulation through co-transmission. I first show that the metathoracic ascending histaminergic neurons (MtAHNs) provide input to the auditory region of the brain and the sensory regions of the ventral nerve cord. I then show that they are active preceding the wing movements for flight. I then determined that the MtAHNs co-transmit both histamine and DH44 and use this co-transmission to differentially modulate separate subnetworks of the auditory circuit. Lastly, I show the conservation of the MtAHN’s co-transmission status is limited to species of Drosophila that use auditory courtship signals. Together this thesis reveals how the nervous system has adapted to use co-transmission to modulate overlapping sensory networks within the context of a CDC.

Download

Share

COinS