Mushroom body memoir: From maps to models

Genetic intervention in the fly Drosophila melanogaster has provided strong evidence that the mushroom bodies of the insect brain act as the seat of a memory trace for odours. This localization gives the mushroom bodies a place in a network model of olfactory memory that is based on the functional anatomy of the olfactory system. In the model, complex odour mixtures are assumed to be represented by activated sets of intrinsic mushroom body neurons. Conditioning renders an extrinsic mushroom-body output neuron specifically responsive to such a set. Mushroom bodies have a second, less understood function in the organization of the motor output. The development of a circuit model that also addresses this function might allow the mushroom bodies to throw light on the basic operating principles of the brain.