Bistable switching behaviour in invertebrates through to primates

What is it about?

This extensive and highly detailed paper lays foundations for Drosophila rivalry research into the future. The establishment of a Drosophila model of rivalry also provides support for one of the long-term goals of the binocular rivalry endophenotype project — i.e., identifying genes predisposing to bipolar disorder — given Drosophila is a powerful animal model that can be used to test genetic candidates and examine putative molecular mechanisms identified from human psychiatric genetic/molecular studies. Furthermore, the paper highlights avenues for human and animal studies into rivalry rate anomalies found in ADHD and anxiety disorders.

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Why is it important?

I made the case for examining interhemispheric switching in the fruit fly, Drosophila, leading to collaboration with Bruno van Swinderen and this publication. Along with my book chapter ('Binocular rivalry, brain stimulation and bipolar disorder'), this work sets the platform for investigating the thesis that bistable (anti-phase) interhemispheric oscillations are a fundamental neurobiological mechanism — given they’re widely observed in several species (e.g., rodents, birds, cetaceans, humans, Drosophila) and across diverse phenotypes such as biological rhythms (e.g., sleep/wake and menstrual cycles), autonomic functions, oculomotor activity, perception/attention and mood/behaviour changes. Studies in this area will aim to determine whether the underlying genes, neural network dynamics (e.g., vestibulocortical circuitry) and molecular mechanisms are conserved in nature, with significant implications for translational outcomes across psychiatry, neurology and sleep medicine.