Functional Connectivity Mapping of Decision-Making in Drosophila Melanogaster

Drosophila, with a tiny brain, can accomplish many goal-directed behaviors, which might shed the light of intelligence. We reviewed our exploratory trip in the recent years concerning the neural circuitry mechanism of decision-making in Drosophila, and proposed a general Gating and Gain Rule in central nervous processing of cognitive function, based on our neurogenetics studies and the functional connectivity mapping of mushroom bodies (MB) which has been believed to be a center of 'free will' in fly's brain. We provide a Tai-ji model to reflect the balance of regulation in MB, and assigned dopaminergic and GABAergic systems as the two antagonistical parts.