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Peer-reviewedCC BYBiology

Social Isolation Causes Behavioural Abnormalities and Reduces Synaptic Proteins in the Brains of Drosophila.

  • Gurlaz Kaur1
  • Heba Mahmood1
  • James Thompson-Dick1
  • Anna Phan1,2,3
  1. 1Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R3, Canada.
  2. 2Neuroscience and Mental Health Institute, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R3, Canada.
  3. 3Women and Children's Health Research Institute, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R3, Canada.
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Abstract

Social isolation is known to cause a variety of behavioural abnormalities in many different species. Here we perform a detailed behavioural analysis of how chronic social deprivation alters behaviours in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, within an arena. We identify specific, quantifiable measures to capture behaviours of interest using the previously established cTrax and MATLAB BehavioralMicroarray toolkits. Socially isolated Drosophila exhibited behavioural changes in almost all measures assessed, identifying a surprisingly wide range of behavioural deficits. We observe that both male and female isolated flies demonstrate reduced locomotion (walk distance and speed), are more avoidant of other same-sex individuals (increased social distancing), and show reduced clustering into same-sex groups. Because these measures of sociality are assessed in same-sex groups, they are independent of sexual motivations. For the majority of measures taken, we observe the same behavioural changes in isolated male and female flies. In the brain, we observe that social isolation leads to a reduction in synaptic proteins specifically within dopamine neurons, as well as across the whole brain in both sexes, consistent with the varied behavioural abnormalities observed upon social isolation.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{kaur2026social,
  title = {{Social Isolation Causes Behavioural Abnormalities and Reduces Synaptic Proteins in the Brains of Drosophila.}},
  author = {Gurlaz Kaur and Heba Mahmood and James Thompson-Dick and Anna Phan},
  journal = {Biology},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.3390/biology15191721},
  url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42883394},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Social Isolation Causes Behavioural Abnormalities and Reduces Synaptic Proteins in the Brains of Drosophila.
AU  - Gurlaz Kaur
AU  - Heba Mahmood
AU  - James Thompson-Dick
AU  - Anna Phan
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/30
JO  - Biology
DO  - 10.3390/biology15191721
UR  - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42883394
AB  - Social isolation is known to cause a variety of behavioural abnormalities in many different species. Here we perform a detailed behavioural analysis of how chronic social deprivation alters behaviours in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, within an arena. We identify specific, quantifiable measures to capture behaviours of interest using the previously established cTrax and MATLAB BehavioralMicroarray toolkits. Socially isolated Drosophila exhibited behavioural changes in almost all measures assessed, identifying a surprisingly wide range of behavioural deficits. We observe that both male and female isolated flies demonstrate reduced locomotion (walk distance and speed), are more avoidant of other same-sex individuals (increased social distancing), and show reduced clustering into same-sex groups. Because these measures of sociality are assessed in same-sex groups, they are independent of sexual motivations. For the majority of measures taken, we observe the same behavioural changes in isolated male and female flies. In the brain, we observe that social isolation leads to a reduction in synaptic proteins specifically within dopamine neurons, as well as across the whole brain in both sexes, consistent with the varied behavioural abnormalities observed upon social isolation.
SN  - 2079-7737
ER  -