Sexually deprived male fruit flies exhibit a pattern of behavior that seems ripped from the pages of a sad-sack Raymond Carver story: when female fruit flies reject their sexual advances, the males are driven to excessive alcohol consumption, drinking far more than comparable, sexually satisfied male flies.
Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) have discovered that a tiny molecule in the fly’s brain called neuropeptide F governs this behavior — as the levels of the molecule change in their brains, the flies’ behavior changes as well.
The new work may help shed light on the brain mechanisms that make social interaction rewarding for animals and those that underlie human addiction. A similar human molecule, called neuropeptide Y, may likewise connect social triggers to behaviors like excessive drinking and drug abuse.
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Director & Producer: Sara Shaffer
Special thanks to the Heberlein Lab and Galit Shohat-Ophir, PhD
