Drosophila played VR and entered nature. It was found that there were attention mechanisms and working memory. The insect brain was no worse than that of mammals

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You can imagine that fruit flies also have attention 、 Working memory and consciousness like abilities ？

Almost catching up with mammals .

Just boarded Nature In a study of , Researchers have created a special for fruit flies VR equipment .

In this 360 Degree panoramic environment , Although the fruit fly is tied with a rope , But you can flap your wings freely , Its actions will also update the scene in real time , So as to create the illusion of free flight .

It is in such an experiment , Researchers have made new discoveries , They observed a cognitive phenomenon commonly observed in mammals ：

The fruit fly has memory formation in its tiny brain 、 Regression and “ Distraction ” And other advanced cognitive abilities .

What's going on ？ Is there such a small gap between insects and mammals ？ Let's explore how .

Pavlov's fruit fly

The fruit fly experiment follows the famous classical conditioned reflex experiment in psychology ： Pavlov's dog .

In the scene of feeding the dog , At first, the host went to feed , Dogs drool , Then Pavlov rang a bell before each feeding , Later, dogs will drool when they hear the bell .

In the process , The dog feeds （ Unconditioned stimulus ,US） And ringtones （ Conditioned stimulus ,CS） It's connected .

The same is true of fruit flies , Just changed the feeding to “ Burn it with a laser ”, Replace the ringing bell with “ see T Shape patterns ”.

When the fruit fly has a positive “T” Shape pattern , Will also be burned at the same time , On the contrary, it will not . Such training 7 After that , In the field of vision at the same time “T” And pour “T” when , Fruit flies will “ Fly to ” pour “T”.

This “ flight ” The direction will be determined by the high-speed camera according to the angle at which the fruit fly vibrates its wings ：

Meeting “ Distraction ” Of fruit flies

After the fruit fly linked the pattern to the burning stimulus , You can test its memory .

For example, we can present the pattern first , When the pattern disappears 5-20s Then turn on the laser to burn it .

After several repetitions , If you don't turn on the laser , Fruit flies can also 5-20s And then react , It means that the Drosophila brain retains traces of visual stimulation .

To determine how long a fruit fly's memory can be preserved , The researchers also designed to make fruit flies “ Distraction ” Interference elements of ： Blow a gentle breath to the fruit fly at different times after the pattern disappears .

Results and no interference with the air flow （ White strip ） Compared with , Fruit flies are interfering with the airflow （ Gray bar ） The performance index drops faster in the case of , stay 40s And then basically return to zero .

This shows that pattern stimulation can leave a short memory in the Drosophila brain , And interfering factors can make fruit flies “ Distraction ”, That is, there is an attention mechanism .

besides , The researchers also monitored the brain activity of fruit flies during this process , It is found that the formation and disappearance of memory are related to R2,R4m Related to neuronal activity ：

These neurons are located in the ellipsoid of the Drosophila central complex , Corresponding to the brain is the cerebral cortex ：

So it seems , The link between the cognitive abilities of Drosophila melanogaster and mammals is still significant . In the future, it is uncertain that the fruit fly can be used as a model of advanced cognitive function .

If we recall that insects and mammals evolved from the same ancestor , This connection is even more profound .

Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of California, San Diego Ralph Greenspan Also said , The corresponding relationship between the brain regions of Drosophila melanogaster and mammal can be mapped according to the molecular characteristics and memory storage mode , Gradually reveal how human beings realize cognitive function .

Reference link ：

[1]https://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/pressrelease/flies-possess-more-sophisticated-cognitive-abilities-than-previously-known
[2]https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04433-6#data-availability