by Dr. Carlotta Martelli, University of Mainz

When: December 12, 2024, at 3:00 pm

Where: Sala Seminari VIMM (Fondazione per la Ricerca Biomedica Avanzata Onlus, Via Orus 2, Padova)

Abstract: The wiring of the nervous system follows a complex genetic plan during development. However, due to stochastic processes and environmental factors, genetically identical individuals seldom show the same phenotypic outcome. In poikilothermic animals like insects, temperature affects developmental speed, but whether this alters brain wiring and function was so far unclear. We have investigated the effect of temperature on brain wiring in Drosophila, showing that neuronal connectivity scales exponentially with temperature, with lower connectivity at higher temperatures. To explain this finding, we extended the metabolic theory of ecology to model the coordination between body and brain development. The theory predicts a temporal shift between body and brain development, which we have validated experimentally. Physiological analysis suggest that temperature-induced changes in brain wiring have circuit-specific consequences for function. We conclude that while some circuit computations are robust to the effects of developmental temperature on wiring, others exhibit phenotypic plasticity with possible adaptive advantages.