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

• 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.
• KA Osborne, JS de Belle, MB Sokolowski, 2001. Foraging behavior in Drosophila larvae: mushroom body ablation. Chem Senses 26, 223-30.
• J DeZazzo, D Sandstrom, JS de Belle, K Velinzon, P Smith, L Grady, M DelVecchio, M Ramaswami, T Tully, 2000. nalyot, a mutation in the Drosophila myb-related Adf1 transcription factor, disrupts synapse formation and olfactory memory. Neuron 27, 145-58.
• TS Sweeney, A Hidalgo, JS de Belle, H Keshishian, 2000. Functional ablation. Pp. 449-77 in Drosophila Protocols, B Sullivan, M Ashburner, S Hawley (eds), Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, NY.
• JS de Belle, R Kanzaki, 1999. Protocerebral olfactory processing. Pp. 243-281 in Insect Olfaction, BS Hansson (ed), Springer.
• JD Armstrong, JS de Belle, Z Wang, K Kaiser, 1998. Metamorphosis of the mushroom bodies; large scale rearrangements of the neural substrates for associative learning and memory in Drosophila. Learn Mem 5, 102-14.