Age‐related behavioral changes in Drosophila

Abstract

Normal aging can be defined as the natural physiological changes that occur in an organism over time in the absence of any disease. Among the many age-related changes that can be observed are those that result in the progressive decline of a variety of behavioral responses, including locomotor activity and cognitive function. During the past decade, model organisms, such as the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, have been used extensively to study aging. These simpler model systems have been particularly useful for genetic studies of aging because of their small genome size, short generation time, and mean life span compared to either mice or humans. Drosophila also exhibits complex behaviors, many of which undergo age-related decline. Here, we describe the age-related changes in behavior that have been observed in Drosophila and discuss how these are affected in long- and short-lived strains of flies.

Presynaptic Aβ40 prevents synapse addition in the adult Drosophila neuromuscular junction

“…A few studies in the adult NMJ have described age-dependent morphological changes [27,28]. These changes are consistent with an early period of synaptic refinement and maturation, analogous to that described in the fly antennal lobes [29] and mushroom bodies [30], and with a subsequent phase of age-related motor decline [31,32]. Thus, we hypothesized that the adult ventral NMJ would provide a model suitable for studying how particular Aβ peptides affect age-dependent synaptic remodeling.…”

“…An early phase of net synapse addition takes place during the first two weeks of adult life, a critical time period in which several areas of the young fly brain have been shown to undergo experience-dependent structural plasticity [29,50,51]. Thenceforth, net synaptic elimination occurs, consistent with the onset of behavioural and synaptic senescence [31,32,50,52]. Thus, this model allows assessing Aβ influence on synaptic dynamics during synaptic maturation and aging.…”

Expression of GFP can influence aging and climbing ability in Drosophila

“…Expression of GFP affects the condition of the flies over the long-term, resulting in poor climbing ability. This suggests that analyses of long-term locomotor assays (reviewed by Iliadi and Boulianne, 2010) or muscle development in flies may be affected when using GFP as a marker (Soler et al, 2004). If GFP influences fly health enough over time to not only decrease longevity but also locomotor (climbing) ability, its use in long-term development assays may be problematic, when expression is directed with the drivers that we used here.…”

The song of the old mother: Reproductive senescence in female drosophila

“…35,36 Age affects female attractiveness to males, as well as female behaviors associated with courtship, receptivity, and mating success 35,37 and reviewed in. 38 While male courtship vigor toward active (intact) females has not been observed to change with increasing female age (5 d-20 d post-eclosion, hereafter abbreviated as d pe; 37 ), male discrimination based on female age is detected under conditions where some female stimuli are isolated. When females are immobilized and decapitated to prevent rejection responses, males spend »50% less time courting old females than young females (female ages 20 d-1 d pe, 36 ; 52 d vs 8 d pe, 39 ).…”