When energy is low and survival is threatened, the brain takes precedence over other organs and disables all its functions in order to save resources. Now, two new studies conducted infruit fliesand those echoed by the SINC agency show that,when these insects “starve”, your neuronsblock the formation of long-term memories of negative eventsor that require repetitive learning. At the same time, their brains enhance the production of pleasant long-term memories.
In the first of the works, led by Pierre-Yves Plaçais and Preat Thomas, researchers from the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), they have studied how the brains of flies cope with a severe limitation of resources. The authors identified that when they feel a ferocious appetite, their brains specifically turn off the long-term memory formation of negative memories, which depends on the synthesis of energy-intensive proteins.
On the other hand, an independent study, led by Minoru Saitoe, from the Institute of Medical Science in Tokyo (Igakuken), and focused on lighter food deprivation, shows that, in fact,a light fast increases the long-term memory formation of both negative and pleasant memories. However, as fruit flies became more and more starved, their ability to form negative memory decreased, while the formation of pleasant memories continued to increase.
“Hungry flies store memories better than sated fliesBecause this hungry state makes them ready to start the expression of the genes necessary for the formation of long-term memory ?, explains Saitoe.
Asian researchers have also found that satiated and hungry flies use different mechanisms to form long-term memory. Specifically, while satiated flies use a CBP transcription factor, hungry flies use another factor called CRTC.
