Local autophagy impairment triggers brain-wide presynaptic remodeling and resilience.

Impairing autophagy in the Drosophila mushroom body triggers brain-wide presynaptic remodeling and enhances resilience, including increased sleep and lifespan.

• Why it matters: Understanding how neural circuits adapt to stress and maintain stability is crucial for insights into brain resilience and neurodegeneration, yet the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood.
• What they did: The study disrupted autophagy in the mushroom body of Drosophila, revealing post-transcriptional changes in presynaptic active zones, including increased scaffold proteins, decreased calcium channels, and elevated potassium channels, affecting the entire brain.
• The result: This remodeling promotes resilience by extending lifespan and sleep, with early-life activation sufficient for longevity, and highlights autophagy as a key regulator of synaptic architecture and system-wide circuit adaptation.