When interacting with their environment animals constantly make decisions. These decisions frequently aim at maximizing reward while avoiding negative consequences such as energy costs, pain, or long-term disadvantages. Faced with a choice, animals consider and integrate several parameters such as their internal and behavioral state as well as external stimuli. Often decisions are shaped by prior experiences such as exposure to a given stimulus in a certain condition. But preferences and aversions can be innate, and an instinctive reaction can be essential to secure survival. Nevertheless, even these innate preferences need to be evaluated in a context-dependent manner and hence, context strongly impinges on behavior. While it is generally accepted that context influences behavior, our knowledge of the neural mechanisms of how internal state and external conditions alter ongoing behavior is scarce. The goal of my research is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the neural and molecular basis of context-specific behavior. To this end, my group studies how internal states shape chemosensory processing and behavior. In this talk, I will present two examples of our recent work in the fly on reproductive state-dependent decision making and on the role of need and motivation in foraging behavior.
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