Well-rested flies: Therapeutic agent reduces age-related sleep problems in fruit flies

Elderly flies do not sleep well -- they frequently wake up during the night and wander around restlessly. The same is true of humans. The sleeplessness experienced by the fruit fly Drosophila is therefore a model case for human sleeping behavior. Scientists have now discovered molecules in the flies' cells that affect how the animals sleep in old age: if insulin/IGF signalling is active, the quality of the animals' sleep is reduced and they wake up more often.