Frontier Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Sciences
Tohoku University

At chemical synapses in the brain, neurotransmitters are released and received within 10 ms, for learning, memory, and emotions. Because Drosophila is relatively easy to genetically manipulate, neurotransmitter-induced behavioral control, that is used as a model to understand the behavioral control caused by neurotransmitters. Although the electrochemical measurements are a powerful tool because of its high sensitivity and high temporal resolution, many studies have been limited to ex vivo measurements. This reason is that the electrochemical probes are made of glass and silicon which are hard and cannot follow the motion of Drosophila. Our goal in this proposal is that the monitoring neurotransmitter release in the Drosophila brain in vivo by polymer-based flexible electrochemical probes and elucidate the relationship between Drosophila behavior and neurotransmitter release patterns. This research team consists of interdisciplinary members with Ichinose, who specializes in neural behavior related to Drosophila, Abe, who specializes in the electrochemical measurement of neurotransmitters, and Guo, who specializes in flexible polymer probes.