Faculty
Science
Supervisor Name
Dr.Anne Simon
Keywords
Fruitless Neurons, Social Spacing, Drosophila melanogaster, Autism, Biology, Science
Description
Social behaviour is an individual's response to others within a group. From humans to mice to even fruit flies, social behaviour involves interactions with others and their ability to exchange information. Social spacing is a type of social behaviour which measures the distance between two organisms. It is a balance of attractive and repulsive cues which are influenced by genetics and by the external environment. However, individuals with disorders such as autism spectrum or Williams syndrome display abnormal social spacing as they are unable to understand social and non-social cues. Also, dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is a contributing factor to social spacing, and altering levels of dopamine affect social spacing. However, the mechanism behind this is unknown. Therefore, I will be knocking down the dopamine receptors (DopR1, DopR2, Dop2R, and DopECR) in Fruitless sexually dimorphic neurons in Drosophila melanogaster to analyze the effects on social spacing.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the Simon Lab for allowing me to learn in the lab along with many inspirational and dedicated individuals. I would also like to thank Western Science and USRI for giving me this amazing opportunity to learn first-hand and develop skills that will help me in my future endeavours.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Document Type
Poster
Included in
Examining the Effect of Knocking Down Dopamine Receptors in Fruitless Sexually Dimorphic Neurons on Social Spacing
Social behaviour is an individual's response to others within a group. From humans to mice to even fruit flies, social behaviour involves interactions with others and their ability to exchange information. Social spacing is a type of social behaviour which measures the distance between two organisms. It is a balance of attractive and repulsive cues which are influenced by genetics and by the external environment. However, individuals with disorders such as autism spectrum or Williams syndrome display abnormal social spacing as they are unable to understand social and non-social cues. Also, dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is a contributing factor to social spacing, and altering levels of dopamine affect social spacing. However, the mechanism behind this is unknown. Therefore, I will be knocking down the dopamine receptors (DopR1, DopR2, Dop2R, and DopECR) in Fruitless sexually dimorphic neurons in Drosophila melanogaster to analyze the effects on social spacing.