Prof Scott Waddell Fruit Fly Brain Research

Scott Waddell, Professor of Neurobiology and Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow at Pembroke leads a research group exploring the neural circuit properties of memory-directed behaviour in fruit flies. 

A recent article in the journal Nature Neuroscience by Professor Waddell and colleagues has received widespread coverage, including in The New Yorker.

The team investigated the behaviour of fruit flies when responding to thirst.  They identified particular dopamine releasing cells that make a fly want to seek the vapour of water, and a different set which are activated when the fly remembers drinking water.  Given the relative simplicity of the fruit fly brain, the research takes place at the high resolution of identifiable cells, which may lead to developments in understanding how similar brain processes function in the more complex human situation.

To read the research paper in full click here.  Articles featuring the Waddell lab in The New Yorker and The Guardian are also available online.