Fig. 2.
Nts1-mediated Notch dysfunction impairs long-term memory, as demonstrated by Pavlovian olfactory conditioning. (a) Short-term memory was examined 30 min after training in flies kept in nonpermissive conditions for 4 days. Flies displayed strong avoidance of the odor paired with footshock, demonstrating intact short-term memory (P < 0.0001 for both). There were also no statistically significant differences between behavior of CS and Nts1 flies. (b) Flies were kept in nonpermissive conditions for 2 days, were trained, and were then tested for long-term memory 1 day after training. Under nonpermissive conditions, CS flies displayed statistically significant odor avoidance (P = 0.0182 for CS), whereas Nts1 fly performance was impaired and did not differ significantly from 0 (indicated by an asterisk). These results indicate that Nts1 flies have an impaired long-term memory. (c) Long-term memory was examined in flies maintained at permissive conditions. Both CS and Nts1 flies displayed significant odor avoidance, indicating that long-term memory is intact for both (P = 0.0003 for CS and P = 0.0005 for Nts1). Data for female flies are shown above. We found that females performed slightly better than males under these nonoptimal conditions for memory testing, although males showed the same trends. Data from six PIs for short-term (representing ≈1,200 flies) and 12 PIs for long-term memory are shown.