Biologists identify neural circuits associated with aging

Date:
January 12, 2022
Source:
University of Iowa
Summary:
Biologists have identified neural circuits associated with aging
in fruit flies. Some circuits remain the same no matter the fly's
age, while others weaken over the fly's life span.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
Even older fruit flies are adept at evading a fly swatter.


========================================================================== Biologists at the University of Iowa pinpointed how fruit flies --
no matter their age -- maintained neural circuits for certain motor
functions, while losing their edge in other performance measures.

The biologists looked at how well individual neurons and neural circuits function as flies age and when they are subjected to stressors such
as changes in temperature and an erosion in protective anti-oxidants
in their bodies. They identified biomarkers of aging in the electrical performance of specific motor circuits, separating circuits that weakened
as flies aged to those that remained the same no matter the fly's age.

One of the "aging-resilient circuits," the biologists found, was in the
fly's ability to escape danger (such as a fly swatter).

On the other hand, flies' muscle activity during flight and the neural
circuits recruited during seizures weakened as they got older.

"Our identification of aging 'landmarks' in motor circuit function will
help future studies in uncovering genetic pathways or environmental
factors contributing to healthy aging in the brain as well as age-related neurodegeneration," says Atulya Iyengar, post-doctoral researcher in
the Department of Biology and a researcher with the Iowa Neuroscience Institute.

The study is titled, "Distinct aging-vulnerable and -resilient
trajectories of specific motor circuit functions in oxidation- and temperature-stressed Drosophila." It was published online on Dec. 7 in
the journal eNeuro.

Iyengar is first author on the study. Chun-Fang Wu, professor in the
Department of Biology, is the study's corresponding author. Hongyu Ruan, formerly at Iowa and now assistant professor at SUNY Upstate Medical University, is co-first author.

special promotion Explore the latest scientific research on sleep and
dreams in this free online course from New Scientist -- Sign_up_now_>>> academy.newscientist.com/courses/science-of-sleep-and-dreams ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Iowa. Original written
by Richard Lewis.

Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Atulya Iyengar, Hongyu Ruan, Chun-Fang Wu. Distinct aging-vulnerable
and
-resilient trajectories of specific motor circuit functions in
oxidation- and temperature-stressed Drosophila. eneuro, 2021;
ENEURO.0443-21.2021 DOI: 10.1523/ENEURO.0443-21.2021 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/01/220112105632.htm
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