Staying in Sequence

Typing this sentence involves my nervous system coordinating a complex sequence of events. How does this happen? Researchers look to fruit flies for answers, focusing on another sequential behaviour – grooming after getting covered with dust. Flies always start with their head, then abdomen, wings and back. A different neural pathway coordinates grooming each area. Using optogenetics, the team selectively turned these pathways (green) on by shining a light on the flies, and imaged them using fluorescence microscopy. With all the pathways on simultaneously, the flies still began with head grooming. More digging suggested all pathways are readied for action but the one that controls the most important action suppresses them. Once that action is complete, another round of competition takes place with the pathway controlling the next most important action winning. Figuring this out in flies may help reveal how even more complex sequential behaviours play out in humans.

Written by Lux Fatimathas

Lux Fatimathas

Writer

Having pursued science through a career in research, communications and publishing, she is currently a writer and editor for a healthcare marketing agency and also juggles freelance science writing.

• Image from work by Stefanie Hampel and colleagues
• Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
• Image originally published under a Creative Commons Licence (BY 4.0)
• Published in eLife, September 2017