It may surprise you to know that according to a study, fruit flies can teach humans something about love, risk and reward. You thought they were just silly, irritating small flies that got in the way and needed to be squashed at any opportunity. I understand that but read this article and see whether you change your opinion afterwards.
They say love is blind and for the fruit fly it's true. But then again it is sometimes true for humans as well. Sometimes a person in love can take untypical risks because everything in their lives flies out of the window (excuse the pun again 💕😉).
The study discovered that when a male fruit fly sets his sights on a female his sex drive takes over. He loses his ability to spot predators. When sex is the goal male fruit flies become "oblivious to physical danger". They pursue their mate with an abandonment of the risks because they don't register.
So why don't the risks register any more? They studied the neural pathways that are activated in the brains of fruit flies to see what happens. When the fruit fly is close to mating with a female there is an increase in dopamine caused by his sex drive. This increase in dopamine overrides the fly's sensory receptors. This in turn "reduces the ability of the fly to respond to threat, causing it to focus on mating".
That's according to the study published in the journal Nature. The researchers have suggested that a similar process might take place in the human brain. The suggestion is that when humans are close to achieving their goals risk is subsumed by the potential of the reward.
"You can see this kind of motivation that play all the time among humans. Imagine you are climbing a mountain and you're close to the summit. If the weather changes and conditions become dangerous, you might disregard that threat because you are so close to your goal."
Those are the words of Dr. Lisa Sheunemann, of the Free University of Berlin who contributed to the study findings.
It seems that the male fruit flies develops tunnel vision when pursuing a mate. Dr. Carolina Rezaval, also of the study and the lead researcher, said that:
"Our study shows that as courtship progresses, dopamine increases, acting as a sensory filter that blocks distractions and helps the animal focus on the task at hand when close to its goal. We are excited to explore if this is a general decision-making mechanism that is also present in mammals, including humans."
Comment: my life's experience tells me that it is also common in humans. Perhaps particularly males as is the case for fruit flies. We can learn something from fruit flies.
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