Chronically sex-deprived fruit flies will take refuge in booze, while just-mated flies are more likely to take a pass on the alcohol, new research suggests.
The alcoholic tendencies of the chronically rejected flies seem to be a result of decreased levels of a brain chemical called neuropeptide F (NPF), which researchers think plays a role in the fly's reward system.
When the fly does something that would be good for it evolutionarily, such as mating or eating food, an internal mechanism increases NPF levels. But NPF also can be turned up by outside factors, including alcohol. (Flies have no trouble finding alcohol, which is created by their favorite food: yeast on rotting fruit.)
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