Data from: Developmental loss of neurofibromin across distributed neuronal circuits drives excessive grooming in Drosophila

Neurofibromatosis type 1 is a monogenetic disorder that predisposes
individuals to tumor formation and cognitive and behavioral
symptoms.  The neuronal circuitry and developmental events
underlying these neurological symptoms are unknown.  To better
understand how mutations of the underlying gene (NF1) drive behavioral
alterations, we have examined grooming in the Drosophila neurofibromatosis
1 model.  Mutations of the fly NF1 ortholog drive excessive
grooming, and increased grooming was observed in adults when Nf1 was
knocked down during development.  Furthermore, intact Nf1 Ras
GAP-related domain signaling was required to maintain normal grooming.
 The requirement for Nf1 was distributed across neuronal
circuits, which were additive when targeted in parallel, rather than
mapping to discrete microcircuits.  Overall, these data suggest
that broadly-distributed alterations in neuronal function during
development, requiring intact Ras signaling, drive key Nf1-mediated
behavioral alterations.  Thus, global developmental alterations
in brain circuits/systems function may contribute to behavioral phenotypes
in neurofibromatosis type 1.