Abstract
How animals maintain proper amounts of sleep yet remain flexible to changes in environmental conditions remains unknown. We found that environmental light suppressed the wake-promoting effects of dopamine in fly brains. The ten large lateral-ventral neurons (l-LNvs), a subset of clock neurons, are wake-promoting and respond to dopamine, octopamine and light. Behavioral and imaging analyses suggested that dopamine is a stronger arousal signal than octopamine. Notably, light exposure not only suppressed l-LNv responses, but also synchronized responses of neighboring l-LNvs. This regulation occurred by distinct mechanisms: light-mediated suppression of octopamine responses was regulated by the circadian clock, whereas light regulation of dopamine responses occurred by upregulation of inhibitory dopamine receptors. Plasticity therefore alters the relative importance of diverse cues on the basis of the environmental mix of stimuli. The regulatory mechanisms described here may contribute to the control of sleep stability while still allowing behavioral flexibility.
Publication types
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Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
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Action Potentials / drug effects
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Action Potentials / genetics
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Adrenergic alpha-Agonists / pharmacology
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Animals
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Animals, Genetically Modified
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Bacterial Proteins / genetics
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Behavior, Animal / drug effects
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Circadian Clocks / drug effects
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Circadian Clocks / physiology*
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Cyclic AMP / metabolism
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Dopamine / metabolism
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Dopamine / pharmacology*
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Drosophila
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Drosophila Proteins / genetics
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Electronic Data Processing
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Gene Expression Regulation / drug effects
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Gene Expression Regulation / genetics
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Green Fluorescent Proteins / genetics
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Lateral Ventricles / cytology*
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Light*
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Luminescent Proteins / genetics
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Microscopy, Confocal
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Neurons / drug effects
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Neurons / physiology*
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Octopamine / metabolism
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Octopamine / pharmacology
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Receptors, Dopamine / metabolism
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Sleep / genetics
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Temperature
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Time Factors
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Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase / metabolism
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Up-Regulation
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Wakefulness / physiology*
Substances
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Adrenergic alpha-Agonists
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Bacterial Proteins
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Drosophila Proteins
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Luminescent Proteins
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Receptors, Dopamine
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yellow fluorescent protein, Bacteria
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Green Fluorescent Proteins
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Octopamine
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Cyclic AMP
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Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase
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Dopamine