Sophie Caron

Behavioral and Evolutionary Adaptations to Changing Environments <p>In this webinar, the speaker will cover data visualization in MATLAB for new users and brush up on topics for those who are familiar with MATLAB coding. </p>

Register for “Behavioral & Evolutionary Adaptations to Changing Environments" here: neuronline.sfn.org/scientific-r...
#KavliNeuro

Have you ever wondered what you would find if you could keep your eyes on a bee for more than a few meters? Us, too!

preprint (with videos!) + thread 🧵

Precise, individualized foraging flights in honey #bees 🐝 revealed by multicopter drone-based tracking

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

1/9

Reminder for neuro postdocs on the market - apply for this soon! Emory Biology is a fantastic place to start a lab

High-resolution mapping of a rapidly evolving complex trait reveals genotype-phenotype stability and an unpredictable genetic architecture of adaptation The extent to which adaptation can be predicted, particularly for traits with complex genetic bases, is unknown. Here, we leveraged a model complex trait, model species, and high-powered longitudinal ...

Thrilled to finally share the magnum opus of my PhD that focuses on the genetic basis of evolutionary change! Specifically, we know we can map the genetic basis of a trait, but can we tell which genes will underlie the trait shift when it evolves? doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Sensory processing reformats odor coding around valence and dynamics Extracting relevant features of a complex sensory signal typically involves sequential processing through multiple brain regions. However, identifying the logic and mechanisms of these transformations...

Excited to share my most recent postdoctoral work in the Jeanne lab @yaleneuro.bsky.social !

“Sensory processing reformats odor coding around valence and dynamics”
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

We ask: how is a sensory code transformed across multiple stages of processing to inform behavior?

14/ And for all the Utahns: Alex will defend his PhD next week. 🎉

Join us!!

Come for the neuro-democracy,
stay for the olfactory homunculus,
and never underestimate the power of an outlier. 💗

13/ This work was led by the one and only Alexander MacKenzie with the brilliant and formidable @synapshotneuro.bsky.social and @jilianulibarri.bsky.social as well as many other teammates.

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🤓 TL;DR

12/ The fly mushroom body encodes an olfactory homunculus: fruit odors get the hand and are easily learned, while toxic odors get the foot and are poorly learned.

Neuro-democracy: where every connection counts.

Read all about it here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

11/ We cannot say for sure, but VL1 projection neurons likely gate plasticity through inhibition, shouting at Kenyon cells, yet keeping learning locked.

(Maybe for the best: the VL1 projection neurons detect pyrrolidine, a real stinker. Better steer clear than to learn it as good! 😷)

10/ We biologists love a clean, simple rule, right?

But then came the VL1 projection neurons...

VL1 projection neurons break the rule — despite weak connectivity, they drive large Kenyon cell responses yet fail to support learning.

Why, oh, WHY? 😫

#uglydatawreckingourbeautifultheoriesagain

9/ This connectivity–function relationship sets the stage for learning: odors that activate many Kenyon cells are easy to learn.

Those that barely activate a few?

Basically unlearnable. 🤡

8/ Likewise, odors that activate highly connected projection neurons, like fruit odors, drive broad Kenyon cell responses.

Odors that activate poorly connected projection neurons, like those made by toxic microbes, not so much.

🍇🍎 Fruit odors get the hand.

🦠👾 Toxic microbe odors get the foot.

7/ Structure matters.

Highly connected projection neurons broadcast their signal loud and clear, reaching and activating many Kenyon cells.

Weakly connected ones fade into the noise.

What the brain builds, the brain listens to.

6/ The wiring is mostly random — as predicted by theory — but some projection neurons connect far more often than chance.

As if the dice were loaded. 🎲🎲🎲

5/ When looking at the connections between projection neurons and Kenyon cells we found clear biases.

Some projection neurons connect up to fifteen times more often than others.

Some occupied expansive stretches of connectivity estate, while others were left with just a narrow strip.

4/ The mushroom body is built like an expansion layer: a small number of projection neurons feed into thousands of Kenyon cells.

Classic theories predict that wiring is random, giving every odor an equal shot at being learned. 💯

But ugly data got in the way of these beautiful theories... 🧌

3/ Why?

Learning centers like the mushroom body face an existential dilemma: they need enough coding capacity to represent as many stimuli as possible while still prioritizing cues that matter most for survival.

How does the mushroom body balance this tension between capacity and selectivity?

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2/ The fly brain does not treat all odors equally... rather it plays favorites. 😲

Think of it as a sensory homunculus... but for smell:

🍇🍎 Fruit odors get the hand — prime neuron real estate.

🦠👾 Toxic microbe odors get the foot — pushed to the corner.

Not all smells get an equal vote...

1/ Hello Drosophila-philists and braino-maniacs! 👋🪰🧠🧪

The Caron lab has a new preprint, and it is about 🥁🥁🥁 democracy!

Neuro-democracy, to be precise. So: drop EVERYTHING and listen up — a 🧶!

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

🔥🔥🔥

Science moves forward when we chase big, weird questions — the ones that make you think: Wait, can that even work?

The payoff is not always immediate — or ever! — but curiosity-driven science can bring new ideas, deepen our understanding, and change what we know in the most fundamental way. 🧪🔬

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We finish this manuscript with more questions than we started with... a good sign! 🤓

What are these capsids transporting? Which cells release them?? Where do they go???👾🧑‍🚀

So, stay tuned: even in the tiny fly brain, these mechanisms might reveal how similar processes operate in our own. 🧠✨

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This whole project started with one of @jasonsynaptic.bsky.social's wild ideas, so wild I thought it was nuts. 🥜🤪 Arc forming viral capsids that can regulate learning and memory in mice. AND IN FLIES? We tried it. It worked!! 🙃

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HUGE shoutout to @barefeetsven.bsky.social — the driving force behind this work — who somehow survived having two PIs (@jasonsynaptic.bsky.social and me).

Talk about being between a 🪨 and a hard place…!! 💪🧠

📢 Fresh off the press! Our article on Arc is out in @currentbiology.bsky.social:
www.cell.com/current-biol...

🧶 Full thread on our discoveries here: bsky.app/profile/thec...

dArc1 controls sugar reward valuation in Drosophila melanogaster The Arc genes — which include Drosophila Arc1 and Arc2 ( dArc ) — evolved from Ty3 retrotransposons and encode proteins that form virus-like capsids. These capsids enable a novel form of intercellular...

This paper with @thecaronlab.bsky.social now ACCEPTED at @currentbiology.bsky.social! Congrats Sven! (He’s on the job market now folks). Stay tuned for the final version. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... dArc1 controls sugar reward valuation in Drosophila melanogaster | bioRxiv

I've had the privilege & luck of having NSF funding for >25 yrs. #WithoutNSF we would not have discovered new mechanisms of chemosensation, described how gut bacteria influence neuronal function, trained many who are now scientists & educators, & appreciated the joys & rewards of science outreach.

Evidence trumps ignorance — join us as we March for Science! 🧪🥼🔬👣

🧪 Stand Up for Science. Science is for everyone. 🫶

Join us as we #marchforscience — for truth, discovery, and a future where research is valued and people matter. Science uplifts everyone, empowers communities, and drives real change. Stand up, Utah!

📍 Utah State Capitol
📅 March 7th 2025 at noon