PgmNr D1297: Contribution of altered feeding to caffeine-mediated sleep suppression.

Authors:
Chenchen Su; Erin S. Keebaugh; Mounika Vattigunta; William W. Ja


Institutes
The Scripps Research Institute, Jupiter, FL.


Keyword: feeding behavior

Abstract:

Caffeine promotes wakefulness and reduces sleep in many organisms, including Drosophila. Given that taste likely affects ingestion and that caffeine is also popularly studied as a bitter tastant, aversion to caffeine might influence fly food intake. Since it is known that reduced nutrient intake also reduces sleep—an effect known as starvation-mediated sleep suppression—we hypothesized that reduced feeding might contribute to caffeine-mediated effects on sleep. We quantified the individual and combined effects of starvation and caffeine supplementation on sleep in Canton-S males using the Drosophila Activity Monitor system. Our results may reveal the extent to which altered food intake and pharmacology influence caffeine-mediated sleep suppression in the fly.