Serotonin Signals Overcome Loser Mentality in Drosophila

Shao Wei Hu; Yan Tong Yang; Yuanjie Sun; Yin Peng Zhan; Yan Zhu

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2020.101651

Serotonin Signals Overcome Loser Mentality in Drosophila

iScience. 2020 Oct 6;23(11):101651. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2020.101651. eCollection 2020 Nov 20.

Authors

Shao Wei Hu^{1

2}, Yan Tong Yang^{1

3

4}, Yuanjie Sun^{1

2}, Yin Peng Zhan^{1

2}, Yan Zhu^{1

2

5}

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 15 Datun Road, Beijing 100101, China.
² University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
³ Sino-Danish College, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
⁴ Sino-Danish Center for Education and Research, Beijing 100190, China.
⁵ Advanced Innovation Center for Human Brain Protection, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Traumatic experiences generate stressful neurological effects in the exposed persons and animals. Previous studies have demonstrated that in many species, including Drosophila, the defeated animal has a higher probability of losing subsequent fights. However, the neural basis of this "loser effect" is largely unknown. We herein report that elevated serotonin (5-HT) signaling helps a loser to overcome suppressive neurological states. Coerced activation of 5-HT neurons increases aggression in males and promotes losers to both vigorously re-engage in fights and even defeat the previous winners and regain mating motivation. P1 neurons act upstream and 5-HT1B neurons in the ellipsoid body act downstream of 5-HT neurons to arouse losers. Our results demonstrate an ancient neural mechanism of regulating depressive behavioral states after distressing events.

Keywords: Behavioral Neuroscience; Cellular Neuroscience; Molecular Neuroscience.