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• Individual feeding measurement on 12 flies simultaneously
• Up to 20 individual FLIC devices can be daisy-chained, allowing simultaneous monitoring of up to 240 flies
• Ability to distinguish between tasting and feeding activity
• High sensitivity – captures nearly every interaction between fly and food
• Automated, real-time monitoring of feeding or food choice behavior
• High-throughput feeding assay
• Interfaces to FLIC software package
• Preference assay is based on quantitative measure and independent from experimenter’s bias
• Food is easily accessible from bottom of the chamber, unlike capillary-feeding assays)
• No experimenter’s interference; foods are introduced without disturbing flies

The FLIC system provides a precise and continuous quantification of the number and duration of interactions a fly has with food. It complements conventional methods of analysis, such as the CAFE assay and tracer dye approaches, by allowing comprehensive long-term studies of new and subtle aspects of feeding behavior.

The fruit fly is one of the most powerful model systems in which to dissect neural mechanisms of complex behavior such as feeding, allowing researchers to study mechanisms of feeding preference and behavior using genetic and pharmacological means. Detailed analysis of food intake facilitates discovery in fields as diverse as aging, metabolism, and neurobiology.

[Left] FLIC System analog signals demonstrate distinct behavioral characteristics of feeding (left) and tasting (right). [Right] Representative signals from each of two feeding wells within a single feeding arena taken from a 90 min subset of a 24-hour feeding measurement. Reference: Ro J, Harvanek ZM, Pletcher SD (2014) FLIC: High-Throughput, Continuous Analysis of Feeding Behaviors in Drosophila. PLoS ONE 9(6): e101107. doi:10.

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