ArticleNature2018
Evolution of a central neural circuit underlies Drosophila mate preferences.
Article in Nature, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 122 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
122 citing papers in PubMed, 268 citations in OpenAlex.
- Complex pectoral-fin-driven locomotion underlies refined visuomotor behavior in the cichlidiScience · 2026Article
- Cross-Species Social Experience Suppresses Aggression in Drosophila.Neuroscience bulletin · 2026Article
- Article
- Article
- Article
- Sex-specific behavioral feedback modulates sensorimotor processing and drives flexible social behavior.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Evolutionary basis of male same-sex sexual behavior by multiple pheromone switches in Drosophila.Current biology : CB · 2026Article
- Visual recognition of the anteroposterior female body axis drives spatial elements of male courtship in Drosophila.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2026Article
- Strain variation identifies a neural substrate for behavioral evolution in Drosophila.Current biology : CB · 2026Article
- Pickpocket315 affects male mating behavior in the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2026Article
- Butterfly brains change in morphology and in gene splicing patterns after brief pheromone exposure.BMC biology · 2026Article
- Molecular evolution of CO2-sensing ab1C neurons underlies divergent sensory responses in the Drosophila suzukii species group.PLoS genetics · 2026Article
- Vocal repertoire expansion in singing mice by co-opting a conserved midbrain circuit node.Current biology : CB · 2025Article
- From neurons to novelty: Circuit mechanisms shaping courtship evolution.Current opinion in neurobiology · 2025Review
- Neural evolution of complex motor behaviors: insights from Drosophila courtship song.Current opinion in neurobiology · 2025Review
- Evolutionary basis of intermale sexual behavior by multiple pheromone switches inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Evolutionary expansion of the corticospinal system is linked to dexterity inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Ecological cues orchestrate concerted courtship in abioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Article
- Article
62 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Courtship rituals serve to reinforce reproductive barriers between closely related species. Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila simulans exhibit reproductive isolation, owing in part to the fact that D. melanogaster females produce 7,11-heptacosadiene, a pheromone that promotes courtship in D. melanogaster males but suppresses courtship in D. simulans males. Here we compare pheromone-processing pathways in D. melanogaster and D. simulans males to define how these sister species endow 7,11-heptacosadiene with the opposite behavioural valence to underlie species discrimination. We show that males of both species detect 7,11-heptacosadiene using homologous peripheral sensory neurons, but this signal is differentially propagated to P1 neurons, which control courtship behaviour. A change in the balance of excitation and inhibition onto courtship-promoting neurons transforms an excitatory pheromonal cue in D. melanogaster into an inhibitory cue in D. simulans. Our results reveal how species-specific pheromone responses can emerge from conservation of peripheral detection mechanisms and diversification of central circuitry, and demonstrate how flexible nodes in neural circuits can contribute to behavioural evolution.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.