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the research, published in the journal current biology , found that when confronted by the age-old behavioural conflict, the impulse to mate was overridden by the urge to eat in experiments on fruit flies. the tiny flies, also known as drosophila, are ideal avatars in the world of neuroscience because their brains exhibit complex behaviours — such as memory and learning — that offer a simpler model for obtaining insight into human cognition. the brain of a fruit fly consists of around 100,000 — just a fraction of the 86 billion found in humans.
“we are often exposed to conflicting situations where we must prioritize one goal over others,” said carolina rezaval , the research team leader at the university of birmingham. “for an animal in nature this could mean having to choose between feeding, mating or fighting for resources. how does the animal know what to do? the fruit fly drosophila is a great experimental system to understand how crucial behavioural decisions are made in the brain. we can identify neural elements that direct behaviours with great resolution and decipher the underlying mechanisms.”
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dave yasvinski is a writer with healthing.ca