Stress Test: Does Phosphatidylcholine Improve Memory in Mechanically Stress-Induced Drosophila?

Overview

Objectives Stress has been shown to impact memory. This research will confirm the impacts of stress on memory using a Drosophila model, while also determining if Phosphocholine can improve memory during stress. Methods All Drosophila will go through a Y-maze. Food will be placed in one arm of the maze to entice Drosophila to go to that side. The Drosophila that picked the arm without the food will be dismissed from experimentation. This will be repeated 5 times to produce a group of Dropshilla that are “trained” to go to the correct arm of a Y-maze. Once trained, the Drosophila will then be divided and put under different conditions: Group 1: Stress-induced via a vortexer for 1 minute Group 2: Control Group 3: Stress-induced via a vortexer for 1 minute and fed 100m/L of phosphatidylcholine Group 4: Drosophila fed 100m/L of phosphatidylcholine After, Drosophila will be put in a final Y-maze assay with no incentive. The number of Drosophila that picked the trained arm will be recorded. Results 47.8% of stressed Drosophila correctly completed the Y-maze assay, versus 50% of the control, showing that stress weakens memory. 63% of Drosophila given phosphatidylcholine correctly completed the Y-maze assay and 66% of the Drosophila that were stress-induced and fed phosphatidylcholine correctly completed the Y-maze assay, showing that the phosphatidylcholine improved memory. Conclusion This data supports the hypothesis that the phosphatidylcholine improved the Drosophila's memory, despite their stress. Providing evidence that phosphatidylcholine can be used to improve memory.

Competition history

• CSEF 2026 Cognitive Science (Junior Division) · Entry J-06-09

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