Hypergravity and aging in Drosophila melanogaster. 5. Patterns of movement.

The paths of young, middle-aged and old Drosophila melanogaster flies, kept at various gravity levels (1-5 g) throughout life, have been recorded in a cross-sectional study. Aging flies exhibit more sinuous paths and do not move as far away from their release point as younger ones. These age-related changes in the patterns of movement are expressed at younger ages in flies submitted to hypergravity. As for the climbing activity experiment, the patterns of movement do not clearly vary with the gravity level at young age. Results are discussed in relation to the hypothesis of increased aging rate in hypergravity.