senile dementia in Japanese fruit flies

[Taro Toporific]

. Fruit flies grow senile too: Japanese researcher Fri Dec 5, 12:47 PM ET / AFPA Japanese researcher found that fruit flies grow senile, just as humans do....It is the first time in the world that senility has been confirmed in any creature other than mammals, Minoru Saitoe, chief scientist at the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Neuroscience. Saitoe found that older fruit flies were more inclined to forget to avoid a specially scented chamber where they had been subjected to mild electric shocks than younger ones. Saitoe said he had also found one specific gene impaired middle-term memory, causing senile dementia.

[kurohinge1]

From a fruit fly's diary:

Day 20 (middle age)

... Must stop volunteering for scientific experiments ...

... however, the electric shocks are helping with the arthritis ...