Video: Spurned Fruit Flies Turn to Alcohol for Solace

Don't laugh. And don't roll your eyes, either--because this research could lead to new approaches to treating addiction.

When male fruit flies are rejected by their female fruit fly paramours, they turn to the bottle--or in this case the straw--that serves up food laced with alcohol.  Just watch the video--kindly provided by Science/AAAS:

This new research is from U.C. San Francisco, and the science lies in a tiny molecule in the fly's brain called neuropeptide F. Researchers paired fruit flies, the moved the males to a separate container where they could choose from one of two straws: one that was just plain old fly food; and one that had food supplemented with alcohol.

Researchers found the fruit flies who successfully mated had higher levels of neuropeptide F in their brains and so drank little alcohol. But the jilted male fruit flies? They went straight for the booze.

Humans have a similar molecule called neuropeptide Y. Scientists have already found a connection between lower levels of this neuropeptide in people suffering from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. But figuring out how to alter those levels is tricky and could take years.

But in the meantime, the video is pretty entertaining!

Learn More:

Learning From the Spurned and Tipsy Fruit Fly (New York Times)