Poster Title: Developmental Social Isolation in Drosophila Melanogaster: Decoding the Sensory "Hardware" and Behavioral "Software" Under Stress

Poster Number: #4033

Authors: Gierke, C., Del Pino, F., Vergara, A., & Salinas, I.

Abstract / Poster Summary

Background: While social aggregation acts as a natural developmental scaffold, total social deprivation represents a severe environmental stressor linked to biological vulnerability. This study investigates whether developmental social isolation selectively impairs central behavioral integration ("Software": CNS processing and transition dynamics) while preserving peripheral sensory function ("Hardware": receptor integrity and immediate detection).

Methods: Utilizing a high-throughput Drosophila melanogaster larval platform, larvae were reared under either grouped ($N=50$) or isolated ($N=18$) conditions. Sensory "Hardware" and central "Software" functionality were evaluated via behavioral assays tracking substrate preference and transition dynamics between humid (Agar) and dry (Acrylic) environments.

Results: Rearing conditions revealed a clear distinction between peripheral and central systems:

1) Preserved Sensory Hardware: Isolated larvae actively avoided unfavorable environments and retained normal immediate texture discrimination, confirming that peripheral sensory structures remain functionally intact.

2) Impaired Central Software: Isolated larvae displayed a significantly simplified, restricted transition profile and lower contraction rates, establishing a clear "Phenotype of Exploratory Restriction".

Conclusions: Early-life social isolation induces a specific central integration deficit without damaging peripheral structures, validating a localized neurodevelopmental stress phenotype. This automated larval platform provides a highly reliable, low-cost translational framework to model the silent epigenetic erosion caused by social isolation, a critical non-genetic risk factor that disrupts chromatin remodeling and accelerates Alzheimer’s disease progression.

Email: christinegierke@uchile.cl | fdelpino@med.uchile.cl | abigail.vergara@ug.uchile.cl | ignacio.salinas.o@ug.uchile.cl