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20170048_0143

© Cyril FRESILLON/CRCA /CNRS Images

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20170048_0143

Tube contenant des drosophiles utilisées pour un conditionnement en vue d'un test de mémoire

Placing fruit flies in a device to test learning or memory. Preconditioned flies have the option of moving either towards an odour that was delivered with an electric shock during conditioning, on one side, or towards an odour not associated with an electric shock, on the other. The results show that the number of these flies that move towards the second odour (without a shock) is 30-40% higher in comparison to so-called "naive" (unconditioned) fruit flies. Other parameters can also be analysed, such as how social signals or nutrients present in food affect memory. The aim of these tests is to understand how learning works, and more specifically how neural networks function during this process.

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