Research Keyword: feeding behavior

Taste cues elicit prolonged modulation of feeding behavior in Drosophila

This study shows that fruit flies can remember tastes they recently experienced and adjust their future feeding behavior based on these memories. After tasting something sweet, flies become more likely to feed in the next few seconds, while tasting something bitter makes them less likely to feed. Interestingly, nerve cells must remain active even after the taste is gone to maintain this memory, suggesting the brain stores taste information in a special way.

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Behavioral dissection of hunger states in Drosophila

Scientists studying fruit flies discovered that hunger comes in two types: the need-based hunger when your body needs nutrients, and pleasure-based hunger when you want tasty food. By carefully watching how flies eat under different food conditions and examining their brain activity, researchers identified specific brain structures (the mushroom body) and dopamine neurons that control the desire for delicious food. This finding helps us understand why we eat food we don’t need and could lead to better treatments for obesity and eating disorders.

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