<mods:mods xmlns:mods="http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3 http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/v3/mods-3-7.xsd"><mods:titleInfo><mods:title>Characterizing Choice Behavior in Drosophila Olfactory Classical Conditioning</mods:title></mods:titleInfo><mods:typeOfResource authority="primo">dissertations</mods:typeOfResource><mods:name type="personal"><mods:namePart>Stea, Samuel Giovanni</mods:namePart><mods:role><mods:roleTerm type="text">creator</mods:roleTerm></mods:role></mods:name><mods:name type="personal"><mods:namePart>Kaun, Karla</mods:namePart><mods:role><mods:roleTerm type="text">Advisor</mods:roleTerm></mods:role></mods:name><mods:name type="personal"><mods:namePart>Aizenman, Carlos</mods:namePart><mods:role><mods:roleTerm type="text">Reader</mods:roleTerm></mods:role></mods:name><mods:name type="personal"><mods:namePart>O'Connor-Giles, Kate</mods:namePart><mods:role><mods:roleTerm type="text">Reader</mods:roleTerm></mods:role></mods:name><mods:name type="corporate"><mods:namePart>Brown University. Biology and Medicine: Biotechnology</mods:namePart><mods:role><mods:roleTerm type="text">sponsor</mods:roleTerm></mods:role></mods:name><mods:originInfo><mods:copyrightDate>2026</mods:copyrightDate></mods:originInfo><mods:physicalDescription><mods:extent>viii, 51 p.</mods:extent><mods:digitalOrigin>born digital</mods:digitalOrigin></mods:physicalDescription><mods:note type="thesis">Thesis (Sc. M.)--Brown University, 2026</mods:note><mods:genre authority="aat">theses</mods:genre><mods:abstract>Drosophila melanogaster is a powerful model organism to understand the neural and&#13;
molecular mechanisms underlying learning and memory. However, memory is usually studied&#13;
by assessing choice behavior at only one point in time in Drosophila, which limits our&#13;
understanding of how flies respond to a learned cue. We developed a simple open-field style&#13;
assay that records the continuous behavioral dynamics of flies as they form preferences&#13;
between two competing olfactory stimuli. We trained flies to associate odors with either a reward&#13;
(sucrose) or punishment (electric shock) and found that within 30 seconds, flies learned to&#13;
approach the sugar-associated odor and avoid the shock-associated odor. Their collective&#13;
behavior dynamics suggest the flies became more decisive over time; they traveled more on the&#13;
preferred side, stayed closer to the source of the preferred cue, made more stops there, and&#13;
consistently turned away from alternative cue. We confirmed these results by showing that a&#13;
learning-deficient mutant strain displayed no choice behavior. This assay provides enhanced&#13;
resolution for understanding decision-making as a continuous, dynamic process in Drosophila.</mods:abstract><mods:subject authority="fast" authorityURI="http://id.worldcat.org/fast" valueURI="http://id.worldcat.org/fast/00898389"><mods:topic>Drosophila--Behavior</mods:topic></mods:subject><mods:language><mods:languageTerm authority="iso639-2b">English</mods:languageTerm></mods:language><mods:recordInfo><mods:recordContentSource authority="marcorg">RPB</mods:recordContentSource><mods:recordCreationDate encoding="iso8601">20260516</mods:recordCreationDate></mods:recordInfo></mods:mods>