Nils is a 3rd year PhD student in Dr. Stéphane Noselli’s lab. His research focuses on left–right brain asymmetries, with two main objectives: identifying the genes and mechanisms involved, and understanding how these asymmetries influence various behaviors, using the Drosophila model.

During his third PhD club presentation, he discussed his behavioral experiments, focusing on the asymmetric H-neurons. Wild-type flies show a strong right-side bias in most individuals, but genetic mutations can produce populations with bilateral or left-sided projections. Nils aims to link these different asymmetry patterns (right, left, or bilateral) to behavioral outcomes. For example, he performed a sugar preference assay to investigate how H-neuron asymmetry affects behavior.

In his talk, he also presented in detail the FlyPAD setup, used to test feeding behavior. In this setup, a single fly chooses between fructose and glucose, and each feeding event is recorded, allowing for  comparison of sugar consumption.

If you want to learn more about the FlyPAD experiments and how different H-neuron asymmetries impact feeding behavior, feel free to check out his presentation in the IBV common server.

(By Nils Ravel)