Steven de Belle

Associate Professor

Ph.D. York University, Toronto, Canada

Neural Mechanisms of Learning and Memory Consolidation in Drosophila

steven.debelle@unlv.edu

We use genetic, transgenic, molecular biology and ablation techniques to examine relationships between brain structure and behavior in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. How and where animals form, store and access memories are among the oldest and most intriguing questions in neurobiology, and the primary focus of our investigations. Our lab also examines other types of behavior including olfaction, locomotion, courtship, foraging and rhythmic phenomena. The polygenic architecture of quantitative and pleiotropic mutant phenotypes is a related topic of interest.

Selected Publications

• CN Serway, R Kaufman, R Strauss, JS de Belle, 2009. Mushroom bodies enhance initial motor activity in Drosophila. J Neurogenet. 23, 173-84.
• BS Dunkelberger, CN Serway, JS de Belle, 2008. A biological basis for animal model studies of learning and memory, pp. 211-225 in Human Learning: Biology, Brain and Neuroscience, M Guadagnoli, AS Benjamin, JS de Belle, B Etnyre, TA Polk (eds), Elsevier, London.
• X Wang, DS Green, SP Roberts,JS de Belle, 2007. Thermal disruption of mushroom body development and odor learning in Drosophila. PLoS ONE, 2, e1125.
• A Presente, CN Serway, R Boyles, JS de Belle, A Andres, 2004. Notch is required for long-term memory in Drosophila. PNAS, 101, 1764-8.
• JS de Belle, 2002. Unifying the genetics of behavior. Nat Genet, 31, 329-30.
• C Helfrich-Förster, J Wulf, JS de Belle, 2002. Mushroom body influence on locomotor activity and circadian rhythms in Drosophila melanogaster. J Neurogenet, 16, 73-109.