How Long's A Fly's Memory?

[faulty_user_name]

Thats it, how longs a fly’s memory?

[Phage]

No longer than the fly, I’d wager.

Really, I am curious too.

[zev_steinhardt]

I often wonder the same thing too, but only WRT to my pet hamsters.

Zev Steinhardt

[MC_Master_of_Ceremonies]

Depending on the training regimen, fly memories based on this type of “associative” learning (made famous by Pavlov’s Dogs) are initially robust, but fade away completely over one to seven days (the lifespan of a fruit fly is 30-40 days). However, when Yin and his colleagues used a genetic trick to boost the level of PKM in the flies, a substantial proportion of flies retained the “avoid that odor” memory at times after training when the memory would normally be long gone.

Scientists Enhance Fruit Fly Memory Using Mouse Protein: New Clue To...

For Zev’s hamster:

Several different measures show that the losers tended to avoid the arm of the maze holding the winners that beat them. They learned to recognize specific individuals within a few seconds and remembered this information for both the short term (30 min) and the long term (at least 7 days).

i.e. AT LEAST 7 days

http://people.cornell.edu/pages/wl54/NeuroS02.htm

[bradwalt]

Hey Faulty_user_name:

I’m really curious why you need to know!!! Did you do something to a fly who is now seeking revenge?

[faulty_user_name]

Well I don’t see why you shouldn’t know so. I was sitting on the grass in the garden the other day having a jay - that pretty much explains my train of thinking but I’ll continue anyway for those who care…I was just sittin there pondering; the meaning of life, if there really is a god and where I was going to locate a bag of skittles, a paper clip and a time machine for an experiment I was considering…when a fly flew through the smoke i was exhaling, the thought crossed my mind, “I wonder which animals and insects can get wasted?” but dismissed it as stoned psychobabble BUT THEN as I followed the path of the fly with my eyes it literally done a u turn a second or two later and flew back through it before it went away…cries
…If your out there george, just let me know your ok…
Haha. Apologies but thats pretty much the story.
So 7 days your tellin me? Thats a lot more than I’d’ve expected, thanks for the info.

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Laura

[Yeticus_Rex]

My follow up question is: faulty_user_name, how long is your memory?

[faulty_user_name]

Evidently very short…I’d forgotten about this post.:smack: