Experiments conducted with flies defective in learning and memory have led to the prevailing model in which mushroom body neurons associate the odor conditioned stimulus with a shock or sugar unconditioned stimulus using potential coincidence detecting molecules, such as the adenylyl cyclase rutabaga36, and store the associations within the specific neurons that are activated by a particular odor37,38,. Like previous studies, we found that the αβ and α’β’ neurons were required for retrieval and stabilization of memory, respectively21,37,38. Our results differ from previous work on memory that use pairings of aversive odors and electric shock, since we found a potential role for γ neurons in acquisition of the memory for ethanol reward. These results are intriguing and suggest that either the odors we employed (which are attractive) and/or the ethanol stimulus require γ neuron activation. Indeed, some combination of γ and/or αβ neuron activation is required for the acute locomotor stimulatory effects of ethanol39, suggesting that the acute response to the ethanol stimulus requires mushroom body neuron activation. Our results, however, must be interpreted with caution since we did not
