Learning - What is Learning?
Doctor Josh Dubnau describes learning as a change in an animal’s behavior in response to previous stimuli or experience.
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1434. Do Flies Have Cognition?
Doctor Josh Dubnau discusses some remarkably sophisticated behaviors in fruit flies that suggest that they do have cognition.
1429. Classical and Operant Conditioning
Doctor Josh Dubnau describes the difference between operant and classical conditioning, which are two different learning paradigms often studied in scientific laboratories.
1432. Stages of Memory
Doctor Josh Dubnau explains that memories seem to be formed in different stages that evolve over time. These include acquisition, short-term storage, and consolidation.
1428. Genes for Memory
Doctor Josh Dubnau explains that genes are responsible for memory in that they contain the raw instructions for memory. Experience determines how these instructions are assembled.
1431. CAMP Signaling Network
Doctor Josh Dubnau explains that the cyclic AMP (cAMP) signaling network can receive signals from outside the cell and use the signal to alter the function of the cell.
1437. The Shibire Experiment
Doctor Josh Dubnau describes how he and his colleagues at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory devised an experiment that dissociated the encoding and retrieval of memory in fruit flies.
1430. Signaling Networks
Doctor Josh Dubnau explains that the function of signaling networks is to receive signals from outside the cell, and transmit that information into the cell, in some cases to the nucleus.
1435. Mutant Screens
Doctor Josh Dubnau explains that mutant screens generate a large panel of mutant animals that average a mutation in one gene. Each animal is then tested for a particular characteristic.
1439. Biochemicals - Excitation and Inhibition
Doctor Josh Dubnau explains that the genes active in different neurons can make them excitatory (e.g. glutamate) or inhibitory (e.g. GABA). These neurotransmitters are critical to learning.
1721. 3D Gene Expression
Like all brains, insect brains have different structures that accomplish specific tasks. Dr. Josh Dubnau introduces a technique for examining gene expression in the brains of fruit flies.