Zhang (U. of Oklahoma) et al. provide a laboratory manual that details 32 protocols and background material for researchers and graduate students interested in using Drosophila melanogaster as an experimental model for investigating the nervous system. They address studying the neural development of the fly, recording and imaging, and studying its behavior, and molecular, genetic, electrophysiological, optical imaging, behavioral, and developmental methods to examine cell-fate specification, cell morphogenesis, neural connectivity, neuronal and glial cell processes, and strategies to mark and manipulate cells. Other chapters address visual physiology, mechanosensation, chemosensory coding, patch clamping, and olfactory and visually guided behavior and conditioning to study learning and memory, social behaviors of aggression and courtship, circadian rhythm, and feeding. Material is drawn from the Neurobiology of Drosophila course at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and written by instructors of the course. Annotation 2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
