Thank you to everyone who made this work possible: @karlakaun.bsky.social @rebeccaoramas.bsky.social @adacks.bsky.social
Check out my Early Career Research Spotlight Interview with the Journal of Experimental Biology at journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/...

In a sated state, flies self-administer simulated taste. However, taste plays a minor role in enhancing odor-based learning.

What drives motivation? We found that #olfaction is the primary sensory driver! Flies rapidly pursue good smells (apple cider vinegar) & strongly avoid bad ones (benzaldehyde).

In the Open-LA, we tracked individual flies as they self-administered #appetitive (good) vs. #aversive (bad) odors and simulated taste experience, alone and in combination. We wanted to understand how each stimulus guided their volitional choices and multiple #behaviors over time.