Stupid flies live longer: study

AFP on Yahoo ^ | 6/4/08 | AFP

[NormsRevenge]

GENEVA (AFP) - It doesn't pay to be smart and ignorance really is bliss if you want a long life -- at least if you're a fly, according to new research by a Swiss university.

Scientists Tadeusz Kawecki and Joep Burger at the University of Lausanne said Wednesday they had discovered a "negative correlation between an improvement in a fly's mental capacity and its longevity".

As part of their research project, the results of which are published in the journal Evolution, they divided into two a group of flies from the Basel region of northwestern Switzerland.

One half was left in a natural state while the other had its intelligence boosted by Pavlovian methods, such as associating smell and taste with particular food or experiences.

Over 30 to 40 generations, these methods led to flies which clearly learned better and remembered things for longer.

The flipside was that the flies left in their natural state lived longer on average than their "cleverer" counterparts, with a lifespan of 80-85 days rather than the normal 50-60..

"In other terms, the more the fly becomes intelligent, the shorter its lifespan," the scientists said.

This is most probably because the increase in neural activity weakens the fly's life-support systems, they speculated.

"This would explain why flies, like most other animals, have hardly developed their neural capacities," they said.

[NormsRevenge]

“In other terms, the more the fly becomes intelligent, the shorter its lifespan,” the scientists said.

This is most probably because the increase in neural activity weakens the fly’s life-support systems, they speculated.

—

hmmm

[fanfan]

That would explain all the stupid people.

[NormsRevenge]

A sarcophaga carnaria fly. Scientists at the University of Lausanne
have found that ignorant flies live longer than their smarter counterparts.
(AFP/File/Christian Puygrenier)

[Dr. Ursus]

I’m going to live forever: I’m not going to learn to fly-
FAME.

[Sax]

With the intelligence and realization of self, also comes the knowledge that you are just a M.F’ing fly with a lifespan of only 50 days, so what’s the freaking point of stretching it out any longer.

[Signalman]

How many taxpaid dollars were spent on this “vital” study?

[Dr. Sivana]

I have never understood Pavlovian training to lead to more intelligence, it is just a trained response which is something different.

[allmendream]

Geneva is in Switzerland.

So not one of our tax dollars were spent in this very successful study that showed that intelligence is a selectable trait in flies that shows antagonistic pleiotropy regarding longevity.

You, on the other hand, can probably look forward to a very long life. ;)

[Leftism is Mentally Deranged]

These “studies” aren’t worth anything. They examine and test one very narrow aspect of behavior and then declare their conclusions in very broad, sweeping statements that are applied far beyond what any reasonable person would conclude.

The conclusion “dumb flies live longer” is stupid. They have not made any fly more “intelligent”. They have subjected the flies to unnatural and unnormal trials which helped them pass “intelligence” tests, but detoured their small mental capacities from what they need to do for survival.

[allmendream]

The experiment was set up so that those flies that do not exhibit the Pavlovian response are culled from the population, thus selecting for those flies that display the correct response in regards to the Pavlovian stimulation.

[Calvin Locke]

Reminds me of the joke about the boy that a some adult wants to prove to everybody that the boy is an idiot, so whenever the guy is with somebody, and the boy comes along, he offers the boy a choice between a dime and a quarter. The boy always takes the dime, with the guy smug in his knowledge that he proved the boy wasn't all that smart.

Somebody asks the boy why he always takes the dime, "since I know you know the difference". The boy smiles and asks "How long do you think the game would last if I started taking the quarter?"

[A message]

“In other terms, the more the fly becomes intelligent, the shorter its lifespan,” the scientists said.

That is because the smarter flies begin to wonder why they are eating s***.

[allmendream]

They have developed through selective breeding a strain of flies that learns quicker and retains memories longer.

[bioqubit]

How many taxpaid dollars were spent on this “vital” study?

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I guess you too can expect to live a long time.

Dude. Closer investigation may show something truly interesting, so get lost.

OR...it is possible the effect of shorter life span has more to do with Pavlovian methods causing them to be make poor nutritional choices that shorten their life span.

I bet an experiment not involving training for food choices will wipe out the effect.

But their speculation is reasonable insofar as the neurons and the immune system are intimately linked in the body. Overstimulation of neurons would take metabolic resources away from immune cells - maybe - in more primitive organisms. “Higher species” maybe not so much.

[a_chronic_whiner]

You’re probably right, but how did you know he meant American tax dollars?

Alright, back to work I go lol.

[McKayopectate]

Is this a metaphor for Democrat voters?

[A message]

Is this a metaphor for Democrat voters?

It could explain Jimmy Carter.