5/ Neuronal Circuit Insights: Operant learning requires the fly's navigation center (CX). CX activity gates plasticity, allowing operant learning while preventing interference from classical learning pathways. This active gating mechanism is key to resolving conflicting memories.

4/ Behavioral Differences: Flies show distinct behaviors after different types of conditioning. While classical learning leads to freezing, operant learning prompts active avoidance. This mirrors findings in mammalian studies suggesting shared cognitive principles across species.

3/ 🧑‍🔬 Surprising Discovery: Contrary to the dogma, we show that operant and classical learning cannot happen at the same time. If both forms of plasticity occur simultaneously, they interfere, leading to no effective learning. 🤯

2/ Classical vs. Operant Learning: Classical conditioning is passive, where an association is formed between a cue and an outcome. Operant conditioning is active, requiring the animal's action to influence the outcome. These different strategies involve separate brain circuits.

1/ How do animals integrate different forms of learning? Our
@eyalrozenfeld.bsky.social new study in Science Advances
shows that active mechanisms prevent the co-formation of competing memories. Here’s what we found! 🧵👇
science.org/doi/10.1126/...