“After that party I slept like a fruit fly.”

September 23, 2006 – 8:19 am

by Rigel

Science recently published a study that seems to indicate that “social butterflies” may need more sleep. Or should I say “social fruit flies?” The study was conducted by putting fruit flies in test tubes- some alone and some together in large bunches- and then measuring the time they spent sleeping.

The isolated flies spent less time sleeping than the flies in a group. And the larger the groups were the more time the flies spent sleeping. The researchers say that the sleeping habits of fruit flies and mammals aren’t all that different, and that these results could be translated to humans. They say that socializing is a more “intense, complex experience than being alone” and that as a result the brain needs more sleep to process it all.

Okay, I do believe there’s some truth in this study because it seems to make sense. But I have some questions about their method: How do you know when a fruit fly is sleeping? I know they can’t measure brain waves, or see their little eyes closing, so how do they know they’re not just choosing to sit instead of buzzing around? And the bigger the group the more time spent sleeping- maybe in a bigger group they aren’t sleeping but start taking turns? You know, a ‘too crowded on the dance floor’ kinda thing???