Differential decline in behavioral performance of Drosophila melanogaster with age

doi:10.1016/j.mad.2006.02.006

Mechanisms of Ageing and Development

Volume 127, Issue 7, July 2006, Pages 647-651

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mad.2006.02.006 Get rights and content

Abstract

Normal aging is typically accompanied by deficits in behavioral performance, independent of overt pathology. In contrast, some behaviors remain relatively unchanged with age, but the reason(s) they remain intact are not known. Here we compare the relative impact of age on a battery of standard behavioral tests using the model genetic organism Drosophila melanogaster. Consistent with previous reports, learning, locomotion, geotaxis and phototaxis show a dramatic and progressive decline beginning at 1–2 weeks of age. In contrast, using two independent behavioral assays, we observe little or no decline in the flies’ ability to escape potentially threatening stimuli. Using the assay with the most rapid decline, geotaxis, we observe a delay in functional aging in a long-lived mutant of the Ecdysone Receptor. We discuss the use of Drosophila genetics to investigate the differential decline in behavioral capacity.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Seymour Benzer, in whose laboratory this worked was initiated, Jonathan Murray, John Silverlake, Cindy Shih and Antha Mack for technical help, Marc Tatar and Rafael Romero for helpful discussions. This work was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from the John Douglas French Alzheimer's Foundation Research and a postdoctoral research grant from the American Federation for Aging Research (2002 Glenn/AFAR) to A.F.S.

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Ageing impairs protein leveraging in a sex-specific manner in Drosophila melanogaster
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Citation Excerpt :
For instance, male Bactrocera tryoni (Queensland fruit fly) demonstrate a significant drop in olfactory response at 15 weeks of age; females exhibit this earlier at 6 weeks of age (Tasnin et al., 2020). Additionally, a decline in olfactory performance has been reported in Drosophila in their first few weeks of life, with female olfactory performance declining more rapidly (Simon et al., 2006). In fact, as humans age, they also experience a decline in olfactory function which leads to appetite loss, decreased enjoyment of food, more food dislikes and an altered diet (Wysocki & Pelchat, 1993).
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Stress is ubiquitous in nature and organisms have evolved mechanisms to cope with it. Stress responses nevertheless vary based on the type of stress, its duration, magnitude, and the organism’s physiological status. We studied here the effect of two separately applied stress types, differing also in their duration, on various behavioral responses of the red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum). The two stress types applied were short-term cold stress and long-term low protein stress. The behavioral response variables were movement activity, preference to move along the test arena edges, latency to emerge from shelter, and preference for dark microhabitat, measured at two stages of the beetles’ lives, as young adults after eclosion and one month later. Behavioral responses were stress-specific. Cold-stressed beetles moved over the longest distances but were also the most reluctant to leave an accessible shelter. We interpret this to mean that cold-stressed beetles were the most active under unfavorable conditions and least bold under more favorable, protected conditions. As beetles aged, their movement activity decreased and latency to emerge from shelter increased. Non-stressed beetles were the most consistent in their behavior across all behavioral tests. This finding is similar to those in previous studies and suggests that moderate stress reduces behavioral consistency. While all beetles gained mass during the study period, the two stress types led to different patterns of body mass increase, which was more moderate for cold-stressed than for protein-stressed beetles.
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¹: Present address: Longmont, CO 80503, USA.

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Short communicationDifferential decline in behavioral performance of Drosophila melanogaster with age

Abstract

Section snippets

Acknowledgments

Exp. Gerontol.

Exp. Gerontol.

Exp. Gerontol.

Ageing Res. Rev.

Neurobiol. Aging

Exp. Gerontol.

Mech. Ageing Dev.

Biology of Aging: Observation and Principles

Genetic alteration of normal aging processes is responsible for extended longevity in Drosophila

Dev. Genet.

Behavioral mutants of Drosophila melanogaster isolated by countercurrent distribution

PNAS

Genetic dissection of behavior

Sci. Am.

Behavior, learning, and memory

The Gompertz function does not measure ageing

Biogerontology

Short communication
Differential decline in behavioral performance of Drosophila melanogaster with age