Study objectives Plant-derived caffeine is regarded as a defensive compound produced to
prevent herbivory. Caffeine is generally repellent to insects and often used to study the …

Dopamine (DA) is a key regulator of associative learning and memory in both vertebrates
and invertebrates, and it is widely believed that DA plays a key role in aversive conditioning …

The mushroom body (MB) in insects is known as a major center for associative learning and
memory, although exact locations for the correlating memory traces remain to be elucidated …

Regulation of reward signaling in the brain is critical for appropriate judgement of the
environment and self. In Drosophila, the protocerebral anterior medial (PAM) cluster …

Aging is associated with cognitive decline, which can critically affect quality of life.
Examining the biology of cognitive aging across species will lead to a better understanding …

As honey bee populations worldwide are declining there is an urgent need for a deeper
understanding of stress reactivity in these important insects. Our data indicate that stress …

Decision-making is considered an important aspect of cognitive function. Impaired decision-
making is a consequence of cognitive decline caused by various physiological conditions …

Updating the value of sensory cues through experiences is a critical element of adaptive
behavior. Although dopaminergic neurons (DANs) achieve this by driving associative …

Optogenetics has revolutionized the field of neuroscience. Within the last decades the
development and use of optogenetics gained enormous importance for the identification of …

Animals and humans share similar reactions to the effects of addictive substances, including
those of their brain networks to drugs. Our review focuses on simple invertebrate models …