Neurogenomics in Drosophila (MYND lab)

It seems evident that experience allows us to improve our response to similar situations. Thus, memory is defined as the ability to store and retrieve past information. This ability appears very early in evolution and is present throughout all the animal kingdom. Such conservation makes it possible to study general principles using model systems, in this case the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. Our goal is to identify common molecular mechanisms of memory across different species. In the laboratory we are mainly interested in two aspects:

• The formation of long-term memory requires changes in gene activation. We use available genetic and omics tools to determine whether the transcriptional program at different stages of memory shows conserved genes and/or patterns, functionally testing the most relevant candidate genes.
• Moderate exercise has been shown to improve several physiological aspects altered by aging, including memory. We use Drosophila as a model to study, at the molecular level, the effect of exercise on brain function and its role in memory during aging.

The ultimate aim is to validate our results in humans, in order to study their possible role in pathologies that affect long-term memory.