Dr. Pletcher and Dr. Gendron found that flies that had seen corpses were avoided by other flies, as if they’d been marked by death (how this works is still a mystery).
The two scientists housed living flies in vials with fly cadavers for two days, and tracked their brain activity with a fluorescent green dye.
Dr. Gendron and Dr. Pletcher then identified the key neurons in the ellipsoid body.
When these were shut off, seeing dead flies did nothing to the life span of the living.
When the researchers activated those neuron clusters, flies met their maker sooner, even if they had never been exposed to dead flies.
Persons:
Gendron, Scott Pletcher, ”, Pletcher, they’d
Organizations:
University of Michigan