Researchers have determined that fruit flies are able to analyze information before making tough decisions, like deciding between two odors, according to BBC News.
"This is the clearest evidence yet of a cognitive process running in a very simple brain," explained Professor Gero Miesenböck, who led a team of researchers at the University of Oxford's Center for Circuits and Behavior, according to BBC News.
Miesenböck and his colleagues were able to isolate a specific gene and over 200 neurons associated with fruit flies' tendency to think over difficult dilemmas.
The researchers came to their collusion by training fruit flies to avoid a toxic smell at a specific intensity.
Then they offered the flies a choice between a high level of the odor and a weaker option. The flies reportedly chose "wisely" when the difference was pronounced, but when the differences were lower, the flies had just a 50-50 chance at choosing the less dangerous odor.
"People tended to think of insects as tiny robots that just respond reflexively to signals from the environment," Miesenböck said. "Now we know that's not true."
As the differences between the two odors were smaller, the flies took more time to decide which way to go, according to BBC News.
Flies with mutations of FoxP, which is a gene associated with decision making, took even longer to decide.
"Before a decision is made, brain circuits collect information like a bucket collects water," said Dr. Shamik DasGupta, the study's lead author, according to BBC News. "Once the amount of accumulated information has risen to a certain level, the decision is triggered."
Researchers already knew primates and other vertebrates take their time to weigh pros and cons, but now they've proven that insects demonstrate a similar cognitive approach, according to BBC News.
The fruit fly study was published this week in the journal Science.
"The same mathematical models that describe human decision-making also capture the flies' behavior perfectly," Miesenböck said. "That's remarkable."
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