ArticleNature2013
Asymmetric neurotransmitter release enables rapid odour lateralization in Drosophila.
Article in Nature, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 83 papers.
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Who cites it
83 citing papers in PubMed, 161 citations in OpenAlex.
- The larvalScience advances · 2026Article
- Odor tracking in flyingProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Neural dynamics for working memory and evidence integration during olfactory navigation in Drosophila.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Fly navigational responses exploit plume-specific odor motion and gradient cues.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Odor tracking in flyingbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Article
- A lateralized sensory signaling pathway mediates context-dependent olfactory plasticity inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- The larvalbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- A Vector-Based Computational Model of Multimodal Insect Learning Walks.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Article
- Neural dynamics for working memory and evidence integration during olfactory navigation inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Article
- The fruit fly,Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Article
- Olfactory sensory neuron population expansions influence projection neuron adaptation and enhance odour tracking.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Molecular Basis of COInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Future avenues inLearning & memory (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.) · 2024Review
- Deciphering olfactory receptor binding mechanisms: a structural and dynamic perspective on olfactory receptors.Frontiers in molecular biosciences · 2024Review
- Sensorimotor transformation underlying odor-modulated locomotion in walking Drosophila.Nature communications · 2023Article
- Olfactory navigation in arthropods.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2023Review
23 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
In Drosophila, most individual olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) project bilaterally to both sides of the brain. Having bilateral rather than unilateral projections may represent a useful redundancy. However, bilateral ORN projections to the brain should also compromise the ability to lateralize odours. Nevertheless, walking or flying Drosophila reportedly turn towards the antenna that is more strongly stimulated by odour. Here we show that each ORN spike releases approximately 40% more neurotransmitter from the axon branch ipsilateral to the soma than from the contralateral branch. As a result, when an odour activates the antennae asymmetrically, ipsilateral central neurons begin to spike a few milliseconds before contralateral neurons, and at a 30 to 50% higher rate than contralateral neurons. We show that a walking fly can detect a 5% asymmetry in total ORN input to its left and right antennal lobes, and can turn towards the odour in less time than it requires the fly to complete a stride. These results demonstrate that neurotransmitter release properties can be tuned independently at output synapses formed by a single axon onto two target cells with identical functions and morphologies. Our data also show that small differences in spike timing and spike rate can produce reliable differences in olfactory behaviour.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.