The Presence of Dead Fruit Flies Reduces the Lifespan of Living Insects

It may make sense not to remove dead flies from the window sill, as this can shorten the life of live insects, according to a study published in an American journal.

Scientists from the University of Michigan said: “By understanding how death is perceived by the neural circuits of some organisms, including humans, it will be possible to assess the consequences of certain emotions and gain insight into how certain neurological conditions affect behavior.” the results of a study on this subject in the American journal PLOS Biology.

Researcher Christy Gendron and her colleagues at the University of Michigan conducted experiments on black fruit flies, which reproduce and die rapidly and live an average of three months.

The scientists tried to understand the phenomenon they had discovered earlier, as the flies mysteriously died much earlier than they were supposed to die, which is almost two months if they saw other dead insects.

In the presence of the dead, living insects began to behave in a closed manner, lost their appetite, lost weight and aged at an incredibly fast pace. At the end, dead insects suddenly join.

The reason for the abrupt change in behavior has remained a mystery, and scientists have only just understood how the mechanism of this phenomenon works. And the main role, it turns out, is played by serotonin, a neurotransmitter that transmits signals between nerve cells. Two of the neurons discovered, R2 and R4, suddenly become overactive, causing the flies to rapidly age and even die.

Christie and her colleagues admitted that they do not yet know how to apply the results of their “discovery. But it is believed that it will help develop methods of treatment for people” who are regularly exposed to the stress of death, including military personnel and emergency workers. .

It is possible that there will be new discoveries aimed at slowing down aging. And not only for flies, but also for people, of course.

It is worth noting the lack of reliable scientific data, there are no reports that workers in morgues, crematoria and cemeteries, who regularly see the dead, die earlier than representatives of other professions not related to death.

Source: Komsomolskaya Pravda