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Cited by 69Neurobiology and Insect Physiology ResearchNeuroscience and Neuropharmacology ResearchAxon Guidance and Neuronal Signaling

A sex-specific switch between visual and olfactory inputs underlies adaptive sex differences in behavior

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Nojima, Tetsuya, Rings, Annika, Allen, Aaron M., Otto, Nils, Verschut, Thomas A., Billeter, Jean-Christophe, Neville, Megan C., Goodwin, Stephen F.·2021·Current Biology
DOI 10.1016/j.cub.2020.12.047PMC PMC7987718
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Abstract

Although males and females largely share the same genome and nervous system, they differ profoundly in reproductive investments and require distinct behavioral, morphological, and physiological adaptations. How can the nervous system, while bound by both developmental and biophysical constraints, produce these sex differences in behavior? Here, we uncover a novel dimorphism in Drosophila melanogaster that allows deployment of completely different behavioral repertoires in males and females with minimum changes to circuit architecture. Sexual differentiation of only a small number of higher order neurons in the brain leads to a change in connectivity related to the primary reproductive needs of both sexes-courtship pursuit in males and communal oviposition in females. This study explains how an apparently similar brain generates distinct behavioral repertoires in the two sexes and presents a fundamental principle of neural circuit organization that may be extended to other species.

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Authors
Nojima, T., Rings, A., Allen, A. M., Otto, N., Verschut, T. A., Billeter, J.-C., Neville, M. C., & Goodwin, S. F.
Affiliations
  • University of Oxford (GB)
  • University of Groningen (NL)
Corresponding author
  • Neville, Megan C.
  • Goodwin, Stephen F.
ORCID
Venue
Current Biology
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2021-03
Volume
31
Issue
6
Pages
1175-1191.e6
ISSN
0960-9822 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.cub.2020.12.047
PMC
PMC7987718
OpenAlex
W3124230387
Cited by
69
References
8
Citations by year
2026: 10 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 5
FWCI
4.96
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Current Biology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
University of Oxford
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurobiology and Insect Physiology Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Axon Guidance and Neuronal Signaling
Keywords
sex differences in behavior, Drosophila melanogaster, sexual dimorphism, neural circuit organization, sexual differentiation of the brain, reproductive investment
MeSH terms
Animals, Brain, Courtship, Drosophila melanogaster, Female, Male, Neurons, Oviposition, Photic Stimulation, Sexual Behavior, Animal, Sex Characteristics, Smell, Vision, Ocular

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