A new study revealed fruit flies have the ability to spend a lot of time doing deep thinking before making a difficult decision.
Neuroscientists from Oxford University observed how the Drosophila fruit fly distinguished between two odor concentrations. They exposed the subjects to a particular odor and observed whether they would choose it when offered a different one. During the experiment, analysts placed the two odor concentrations, which were very different from each other, on opposite ends of a narrow chamber.
The researchers looked at the movement of the fruit flies as they went to the correct side of the chamber. Researchers noticed that subjects tended to spend more time during decision-making but still made incorrect choices when exposed to two similar odors.
The fruit flies' ability to gather information prior to making a decision showed that they were similar to primates and humans in terms of mental capacity.
The researchers determined that the fruit flies used the gene FoxP in their decision-making. They tested this theory by mutating some of the subjects with the gene, which made them more indecisive compared to normal non-mutated flies.
"Before a decision is made, brain circuits collect information like a bucket collects water. Once the accumulated information has risen to a certain level, the decision is triggered. When FoxP is defective, either the flow of information into the bucket is reduced to a trickle, or the bucket has sprung a leak," explained Dr. Shamik DasGupta, lead author of the study, in a university news release.
Humans have four FoxP genes, while fruit flies only have one. A full set of FoxP genes allows for the development of human language, cognitive and motor abilities. But researchers clarified that the gene should not be considered a "decision-making gene."
Further details of this discovery can be read in the May 23 issue of Science.
