The humble fruit fly may hold the secrets to understanding how antidepressants interact with the human brain. Seniors Will Blosser and Aden Weybright have been spending their afternoons breeding, sorting, and analyzing flies under the supervision of Dr. Jeff Copeland, with the hope that their research will be helpful in treating neurological illnesses.

But, why use… flies? “Fruit flies reproduce quickly, which is important, since the more flies we have, the more DNA we can analyze,” says Weybright. “The brain chemistry of these fruit flies is very similar to human neurochemistry, so they make a great model organism.”

As a future psychologist, Blosser is eager to unlock the secrets of the brain. “We’re working with fruit flies to study the transport of neurotransmitters in the brain. Specifically, we’re working to understand the transport of serotonin, which has implications for human neurochemical disorders, like anxiety and depression.”

This research comes as the U.S. suffers an unprecedented post-pandemic mental health crisis. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), over 40 million Americans suffered from anxiety during the pandemic year of 2020, while over 17 million had a major depressive episode. Far and away, those most at risk for these illnesses were people 18 to 25 years old.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, a low level of the neurotransmitter serotonin may be to blame. Today, anxiety and depression are often fought with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), like Prozac and Zoloft, which increase levels of free serotonin in the brain, but their exact mode of action is unknown.

Dr. Jeff Copeland, the creator of this research project, has a very specific goal in mind. “It’s best if we know exactly how serotonin is taken into the neurons, specifically the mechanism of presynaptic transport.” 

Serotonin moves between neurons as a sort of messenger, traveling through gaps called synapses from a presynaptic neuron to a postsynaptic neuron.  Once it has delivered a signal to a receptor on the postsynaptic neuron, serotonin typically travels back across the synapse and is taken back up by the presynaptic neuron. Understanding precisely how this reuptake works could be crucial to understanding causes and potential treatments for anxiety and depression.

Blosser recognizes that the discovery of even one new piece of this puzzle could be a game-changer. “This would have real implications for the way we are using SSRI therapies. If we can better understand the reuptake of serotonin in the brain, this could lead to better therapies which are tailored to a person’s specific neurochemical illness.”

EMU’s science programs provide ample opportunities for these research projects, partly due to the school’s low student-to-professor ratio, and both Blosser and Weybright are very grateful to be given the chance to work with Dr. Copeland. “It’s a cool opportunity to work on this research and we’re developing a lot of fundamental lab skills that we may use later in life,” says Weybright. “It’s very hands-on!”