Schematic of the <i>Drosophila</i> Visual System (IMAGE)
Caption
This is a schematic of the Drosophila visual system showing photoreceptor neurons (green) extending their axons to form synapses (red dots) with the brain neurons. When the fruit fly is exposed to natural light for 3 days the synapse number decreases. This suggests that the neuronal circuit plastically transforms by decreasing the number of efficient connections upon environmental changes, i.e. the light stimuli change. This research showed that the feedback signal mediated by the secreted protein Wnt is required for the synapse change.
Credit
Prof. Dr. Takashi Suzuki / TokyoTech
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