- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
So says molecular biologist Wanhe Li, an assistant professor at Texas A&M and a Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) Scholar, who will present a seminar, hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, on Wednesday, Nov. 2
Li will discuss "How Time Flies During Lockdown?--Mechanisms Underlying Chronic Social Isolation-induced Sleep Loss in Drosophila" at her in-person and virtual seminar at 4:10 p.m., in 122 Briggs Hall. The Zoom link: https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/95882849672.
Introducing her will be molecular geneticist and physiologist Joanna Chiu, professor and vice chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
"Chronic social isolation and loneliness have profound impacts on public health," Li says in her abstract. "Though experimental manipulations are widely applied to studying sleep/wakefulness and circadian regulation in animal models, how normal sleep is perturbed by social isolation and chronic stress is largely unknown. We previously reported that chronically isolated animals exhibit sleep-loss accompanied by over-consumption of food. The observed behavioral changes induced by chronic social isolation stress is linked to neural activities in specific neural circuits in the Drosophila brain."
"These results," she continued, "resonate with anecdotal findings of loneliness-associated sleep difficulties and hyperphagia in humans, and present a mechanistic link between chronic social isolation, metabolism, and sleep, addressing a long-standing call for animal models focused on loneliness. Future work built upon this model will help us understand the perception of social isolation and other emotional states, the regulation of sleep/wakefulness, and the regulation of metabolism at the intersection of genetics, biological timing, and neurobiology."
Science Daily, in its Aug. 18, 2021 edition, reported on her research (co-authored by eight colleagues): "COVID-19 lockdowns scrambled sleep schedules and stretched waistlines. One culprit may be social isolation itself. Scientists have found that lone fruit flies quarantined in test tubes sleep too little and eat too much after only about one week of social isolation, according to a new study published in Nature. The findings, which describe how chronic separation from the group leads to changes in gene expression, neural activity, and behavior in flies, provide one of the first robust animal models for studying the body's biological reaction to loneliness."
Li, who holds a bachelor's degree in biological sciences (2004) from Nankai University, Tianjin, China, received her doctorate in molecular and cellular biology from Stony Brook University in 2011 through a joint program with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Laurel Hollow, N.Y. She served as a postdoctoral associate and research associate,The Rockefeller University, New York City.
Some of her latest publications:
- Li, W, Keene, AC. Flies sense the world while sleeping. Nature. 2021;598 (7881):423-424. doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-02441-6. PubMed PMID:34588643 .
- Li, W, Wang, Z, Syed, S, Lyu, C, Lincoln, S, O'Neil, J et al.. Chronic social isolation signals starvation and reduces sleep in Drosophila. Nature. 2021;597 (7875):239-244. doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03837-0. PubMed PMID:34408325 PubMed Central PMC8429171.
- Ahmad, M, Li, W, Top, D. Integration of Circadian Clock Information in the Drosophila Circadian Neuronal Network. Journal of Biological Rhythms. 2021;36 (3):203-220. doi: 10.1177/0748730421993953. PubMed PMID:33641476 PubMed Central PMC8114447.
- Garaulet, DL, Sun, K, Li, W, Wen, J, Panzarino, AM, O'Neil, JL et al.. miR-124 Regulates Diverse Aspects of Rhythmic Behavior in Drosophila. Journal of Neuroscience, 2016;36 (12):3414-21. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3287-15.2016. PubMed PMID:27013671 PubMed Central PMC4804003.
- Shuai, Y, Hirokawa, A, Ai, Y, Zhang, M, Li, W, Zhong, Y et al.. Dissecting neural pathways for forgetting in Drosophila olfactory aversive memory. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U S A. 2015;112 (48):E6663-72. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1512792112. PubMed PMID:26627257 PubMed Central PMC4672816.
Emily Meineke, assistant professor of urban landscape entomology, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, coordinates the department's seminars for the 2022-23 academic year. All 11 seminars will take place both person and virtually at 4:10 p.m. on Wednesdays in Room 122 of Briggs Hall except for the Nov. 9th and Dec. 7th seminars, which will be virtual only, she said. (See list of seminars)
For further information on the seminars or to resolve any technical difficulties with Zoom, contact Meineke at ekmeineke@ucdavis.edu.
- Author: Iqbal Pittalwala
I had never participated in an eating meditation before. I wasn’t even sure what was involved. Did one eat and eat, and meditate at the same time with eyes closed? I had tried two other kinds of meditation before – sitting and walking meditations. A meditation focused on food intrigued me, and it was simple curiosity that motivated me to try it out.
The instructions, when they came, were simple: We could feel the strawberry, smell it, examine it closely, and, yes, eat it in micro-bites. What we had to ensure, however, was that this exercise was continuous, that we sat in place, and that we were still doing at least one of these activities at the end of a half hour. We could not gobble down the strawberry or ask for more. What would work best, if we were set on just the eating activity, was to nibble at it – preferably molecule by molecule. Needless to add, the focus of the silent meditation had to be the strawberry as far as possible, and nothing else.
The exercise was not easy. For the first few minutes some of us collapsed into giggles. Later, the exercise turned uncomfortable and awkward. But as the minutes dragged by at what seemed a glacial pace, the atmosphere in the room transformed, embracing a seriousness the meditation deserved. I remember letting piece after tiny piece of strawberry linger on my tongue until I had “exhausted” the taste of each. I also remember closely scrutinizing the texture of the fruit, letting my fingers caress the rough skin, feeling the pattern of what, to my surprise, turned out to be hexagons wrapping the fruit, and marveling over the berry’s geometry and symmetry.
Until that morning, I had not examined a strawberry with such concentration, such patience. I had paid little attention to the small seeds piercing the surface, and had only barely noticed how the red hue deepened from the flat top of the fruit to the conical peak. There were times when the strawberry felt heavy in my hand; at other times I had to gently squeeze the flesh to resurrect sensations and bring my mind back to the meditation.
After a while, so lost were we in the exercise that time seemed to cease and nothing in the world mattered more than the strawberry in hand. Indeed, the universe shrank – or had it expanded? – to just me, the strawberry and the meditation. Where I ended and the strawberry began was hard to say, and irrelevant.
After we emerged from the meditation, the recommendation we were offered was to do the exercise daily, starting with half an hour (we could increase the time with practice, if we wanted) and a food of one’s choice – anything small, such as a grape or a small candy. What was not said but unanimously understood was that this exercise could be an effective way to overcome excessive and mindless eating, the lesson being you didn’t need too much of a food you crave to enjoy it well.
To friends who tell me they wish to lose weight, I recommend the eating meditation. Even if it fails to reduce your weight, I inform them, the great benefit of the exercise is that you become mindful of what you eat, how much and for how long. To date, none of these friends told me they took on the challenge. Can I be surprised? Given how frequently food ads on TV, the print media, and elsewhere assail us, I cannot censure them. Sadly, here’s my confession: It has been many years now since I did this meditation.
For more information on mindful eating, read the February 2012 New York Time article Mindful Eating as Food for Thought.