Fruit Flies Analyze Information Before Making Difficult Decisions

A new study by researchers at the Oxford University stated that fruit flies analyze information before making difficult decisions.

Analyzing information before making a decision is considered to be mark of higher intelligence. The team found that flies employ 200 neurons to crunch the information and present a solution to the problem.

"This is the clearest evidence of a cognitive process running in a very simple brain," said Professor Gero Miesenböck of the University of Oxford's Centre for Circuits and Behaviour, according to BBC. "People tended to think of insects as tiny robots that just respond reflexively to signals from the environment. Now we know that's not true."

Their study is published in the journal Science and was funded by Wellcome Trust, the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, the US National Institutes of Health and the Oxford Martin School.

Spoilt for Choice

The research was conducted on Drosophila flies. Researchers trained the flies to avoid one concentration of scent. Flies were then placed in a narrow chamber that had different concentration of odor on either end.

When the difference in the concentration was high, flies moved quickly to one end of the chamber. However, when presented with nearly identical odors, the flies took time to decide.

The team found that mathematical models, developed to describe decision-making behavior of primates, could be applied to fruit flies.

Researchers also found that blocking the activity of FoxP led to poor decision-making in the flies. The gene is associated with a small set of 200 neurons. The study shows that the flies have a dedicated decision-making center that accumulates data, analyzes it and comes up with a solution to the problem.

"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," said Dr Shamik DasGupta, the lead author of the study, according to a news release.

Humans have four related FoxP genes, researchers said. These genes are linked with cognition and learning fine motor skills.