Fruit Fly Study Identifies Neurons That Suppress Aggression

Our brains constantly integrate information about both our internal state and our surroundings to determine how we behave. Much of this coordination depends on neuromodulators-chemical messengers that establish how neurons communicate and function. Understanding how these signals produce distinct responses to different social contexts is crucial to understanding how the brain works.Remarkably, many of these fundamental molecular mechanisms are conserved across evolution, including in the tiny brain of a fruit fly. That makes fruit flies powerful models to study how neuromodulators influence complex social behaviors such as aggression.