Date: October 17, 2016
Source: University of California
- Santa Barbara
In classic experiments on frogs,
scientists found that the amphibians' urge to escape from dangerously hot water
decreased significantly when the water temperature rose very gradually.
In fact, sensitivity of many
animals to temperature -- including humans -- is similarly affected by the rate
of increase. Exactly why, however, has not been understood.
Hoping to shed light on this
phenomenon, UC Santa Barbara professor Craig Montell and graduate students
Junjie Luo and Wei Shen developed fruit fly larvae as a model to reveal a
mechanism through which the animal shows different behavioral responses to fast
and slow rises in temperature.
The researchers discovered that a
rapid 25-degree Fahrenheit temperature change caused a writhing response in
fruit fly larvae. However, when the temperature was raised gradually, far fewer
animals reacted, and for those that did, the average threshold temperature was
significantly higher. The team's findings appear in the journal Nature
Neuroscience.
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