I drink because girls don't like me

Male fruit flies rejected by their partners are attracted to drinking

ABC Magazine Based on Science: Sexually Rejected Flies Turn to Booze

If you offer a male fruit fly drosophila a choice between a drop of alcohol and a non-alcoholic liquid, his decision will depend on sexual satisfaction: if the male has recently mated, he will prefer a soft drink, and if the female rejected it, the male will reach for a drink. Such an interesting conclusion was reached by scientists from the University of Missouri, USA. According to them, for the first time they were able to establish how the social interaction of flies determines their future behavior.

"This is an amazing discovery," says neurogeneticist Troy Zars. "It will help us understand exactly how the brain controls the behavior that leads to reward and pleasure." Researchers have already established that alcohol consumption activates the neural pathways responsible for reward in the brain of flies, thus forming the connection "alcohol = pleasure". In addition, it is known that various forms of social interaction can also cause a lot of positive feelings. In this regard, scientists decided to trace whether these two types of pleasure are not related to each other. They admitted that they initially considered the experiment a failure and absolutely did not expect to get any significant results.

The experiment was conducted on 24 male fruit flies. Half of them were placed in an aviary with many females ready to mate. The other half was in an aviary with a small number of females who had already undergone mating and were no longer interested in males. After 4 days of such a life, males from both groups were placed in a container containing fruits – some of them were soaked with alcohol, and others with a soft drink. Scientists expected that all flies would prefer to eat fruit with alcohol, but they were mistaken. Males from the first group, who had been in the company of females ready for mating for 4 days, preferred a soft drink, while all rejected males from the second group opted for alcohol.

Researchers believe that the main role in this relationship is played by neuropeptide F, located in the neurons of the brain. It is he who is responsible for the formation of a sense of satisfaction when consuming alcohol. Scientists measured the level of the peptide in the brain of male flies after mating and after the female's refusal and found that it was 2 times lower in rejected males. At the same time, if the level of the peptide is artificially increased for these males, they cease to prefer ethanol-containing drinks. Scientists intend to continue studying the effect of neuropeptide F on the formation of attitudes to sex and alcohol, including in humans.

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19.03.2012