Gallio Lab Publishes "A thermometer circuit for hot temperature adjusts Drosophila behavior to persistent heat"
September 26, 2022
A Gallio Lab study published in the journal Current Biology helps explain the impact of external temperature on sleep. The study uses the fruit fly Drosophila as a model system and appears in print in the September 26 issue of the journal. The Northwestern Neurobiology researchers found that fruit flies are pre-programmed to take a nap in the middle of the day and that is due to a specific "thermometer" circuit that responds to hot temperature. The work is a follow-up to their 2020 Current Biology paper that identified a brain thermometer only active in cold weather. Authors are post-doc Dr. Michael H. Alpert, Neuroscience major Hamin Gil, Research Professor Alessia Para and Associate Professor Marco Gallio