Initiating activity in behaviour - a functional property of the brain

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Martin Heisenberg
• Subject Area: Molecular Biology and Physiology of Neurons and Glial Cells
• Term: from 2011 to 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 186288762

We plan to investigate the endogenous (initiating) activity in behaviour using the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster as experimental animal. The project is based on the assumption that the ability of animals and humans to generate behaviour of their own accord, is a basic and important aspect of the functional organization of the brain. We want to record and characterize the behavioural activity of single animals during, for instance, operant conditioning and analyze its temporal structure, the stochastic properties of turning manoeuvres, the influence of sensory stimuli, time of day, age, experience, etc.. How does the brain respond to re-afferent stimuli? Can genes, neurons and tissues be identified that are specifically required for the control of activity? Can we find brain regions that have no effect? Is the activity of different behavioural modules regulated independently? We expect to be able to deduce from the patterns of behavioural activity the general rules of how the brain selects the right behaviour from the outcome expectations for the behavioural options. These rules are expected to be the basic layout of a functional brain model. A better understanding of initiating activity in behaviour would be highly welcome in medical research and informatics (autonomous robots). It would also have relevance for the social sciences and philosophy.

• DFG Programme: Reinhart Koselleck Projects