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Speed dependent descending control of freezing behavior in Drosophila melanogaster

Overview of attention for article published in Nature Communications, September 2018
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About this Attention Score

  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (97th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (85th percentile)

Mentioned by

news
6 news outlets
blogs
4 blogs
twitter
29 X users
facebook
3 Facebook pages
wikipedia
2 Wikipedia pages

Citations

dimensions_citation
76 Dimensions

Readers on

mendeley
173 Mendeley
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Title
Speed dependent descending control of freezing behavior in Drosophila melanogaster
Published in
Nature Communications, September 2018
DOI 10.1038/s41467-018-05875-1
Pubmed ID
Authors

Ricardo Zacarias, Shigehiro Namiki, Gwyneth M. Card, Maria Luisa Vasconcelos, Marta A. Moita

Abstract

The most fundamental choice an animal has to make when it detects a threat is whether to freeze, reducing its chances of being noticed, or to flee to safety. Here we show that Drosophila melanogaster exposed to looming stimuli in a confined arena either freeze or flee. The probability of freezing versus fleeing is modulated by the fly's walking speed at the time of threat, demonstrating that freeze/flee decisions depend on behavioral state. We describe a pair of descending neurons crucially implicated in freezing. Genetic silencing of DNp09 descending neurons disrupts freezing yet does not prevent fleeing. Optogenetic activation of both DNp09 neurons induces running and freezing in a state-dependent manner. Our findings establish walking speed as a key factor in defensive response choices and reveal a pair of descending neurons as a critical component in the circuitry mediating selection and execution of freezing or fleeing behaviors.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 29 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 173 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 173 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 36 21%
Researcher 25 14%
Student > Master 18 10%
Student > Bachelor 18 10%
Student > Doctoral Student 10 6%
Other 21 12%
Unknown 45 26%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Neuroscience 60 35%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 36 21%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 9 5%
Psychology 6 3%
Physics and Astronomy 3 2%
Other 8 5%
Unknown 51 29%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 93. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 23 June 2022.
All research outputs
#416,840
of 23,937,746 outputs
Outputs from Nature Communications
#6,988
of 50,573 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#9,524
of 340,811 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Nature Communications
#206
of 1,452 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 23,937,746 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 98th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 50,573 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 56.2. This one has done well, scoring higher than 86% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 340,811 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 97% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 1,452 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 85% of its contemporaries.