scholarly journals Configural Olfactory Learning in Honeybees: Negative and Positive Patterning Discrimination

2001 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 70-78
Author(s):  
Nina Deisig ◽  
Harald Lachnit ◽  
Martin Giurfa ◽  
Frank Hellstern
Keyword(s):  
Antennal Lobe ◽  
Discrimination Problem ◽  
Sucrose Solution ◽  
Olfactory Conditioning ◽  
Proboscis Extension Response ◽  
Activation Patterns ◽  
Odor Mixtures ◽  
Proboscis Extension ◽  
Elemental Associations ◽  
Positive Patterning

In an appetitive context, honeybees (Apis mellifera) learn to associate odors with a reward of sucrose solution. If an odor is presented immediately before the sucrose, an elemental association is formed that enables the odor to release the proboscis extension response (PER). Olfactory conditioning of PER was used to study whether, beyond elemental associations, honeybees are able to process configural associations. Bees were trained in a positive and anegative patterning discrimination problem. In the first problem, single odorants were nonreinforced whereas the compound was reinforced. In the second problem, single odorants were reinforced whereas the compound was nonreinforced. We studied whether bees can solve these problems and whether the ratio between the number of presentations of the reinforced stimuli and the number of presentations of the nonreinforced stimuli affects discrimination. Honeybees differentiated reinforced and nonreinforced stimuli in positive and negative patterning discriminations. They thus can process configural associations. The variation of the ratio of reinforced to nonreinforced stimuli modulated the amount of differentiation. The assignment of singular codes to complex odor blends could be implemented at the neural level: When bees are stimulated with odor mixtures, the activation patterns evoked at the primary olfactory neuropile, the antennal lobe, may be combinations of the single odorant responses that are not necessarily fully additive.

scholarly journals Honey bees can store and retrieve independent memory traces after complex experiences that combine appetitive and aversive associations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Klappenbach ◽  
Agustin E Lara ◽  
Fernando F Locatelli
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bees ◽  
Differential Conditioning ◽  
Training Session ◽  
Aversive Conditioning ◽  
Appetitive Conditioning ◽  
Olfactory Conditioning ◽  
Proboscis Extension Response ◽  
Conditioning Paradigm ◽  
Aversive Events ◽  
Proboscis Extension

Real-world experiences do often mix appetitive and aversive events. Understanding the ability of animals to extract, store and use this information is an important issue in neurobiology. We used honey bees as model to study learning and memory after a differential conditioning that combines appetitive and aversive training trials. First of all, we describe an aversive conditioning paradigm that constitutes a clear opposite of the well known appetitive olfactory conditioning of the proboscis extension response. A neutral odour is presented paired with the bitter substance quinine. Aversive memory is evidenced later as an odour-specific impairment in appetitive conditioning. Then we tested the effect of mixing appetitive and aversive conditioning trials distributed along the same training session. Differential conditioning protocols like this were used before to study the ability to discriminate odours, however they were not focused on whether appetitive and aversive memories are formed. We found that after a differential conditioning, honey bees establish independent appetitive and aversive memories that do not interfere with each other during acquisition or storage. Finally, we moved the question forward to retrieval and memory expression to evaluate what happens when appetitive and the aversive learned odours are mixed during test. Interestingly, opposite memories compete in a way that they do not cancel each other out. Honey bees showed the ability to switch from expressing appetitive to aversive memory depending on their satiation level.

Behavioural analysis of olfactory conditioning in the moth spodoptera littoralis (Boisd.) (Lepidoptera: noctuidae)

1997 ◽  
Vol 200 (23) ◽  
pp. 2969-2976 ◽  
Author(s):  
RJ Fan ◽  
P Anderson ◽  
B Hansson
Keyword(s):  
Spodoptera Littoralis ◽  
Sucrose Solution ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Olfactory Conditioning ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Us ◽  
Learning Capabilities ◽  
Control Procedures ◽  
Proboscis Extension ◽  
Lepidoptera Noctuidae

We studied the associative learning capabilities for behaviourally relevant cues in the moth Spodoptera littoralis. The moths were trained to associate a conditioned stimulus (CS), geraniol odour, with an unconditioned stimulus (US), a sucrose solution. The occurrence of a proboscis extension reflex (PER) was tested. The PER performance during acquisition increased steadily with the number of training trials. Non-associative control procedures did not result in learning. PER conditioning was achieved when the CS was presented 1-3 s before the US. A wide range of inter-trial intervals was able to support conditioning. Males and females learned equally well. Moths could to some degree learn the CS-US association after a single trial. These results demonstrate that S. littoralis females and males have a good capability to associate an odour with a reward. The neural basis of olfactory coding in moths has been well studied; thus, the moth provides a powerful system in which to examine the neurobiology of olfactory learning.

scholarly journals Effects of Sublethal Concentrations of Chlorpyrifos on Olfactory Learning and Memory Performances in Two Bee Species, Apis mellifera and Apis cerana

Sociobiology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhiguo Li ◽  
Meng Li ◽  
Jingnan Huang ◽  
Changsheng Ma ◽  
Linchen Xiao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Sucrose Solution ◽  
Apis Cerana ◽  
Lethal Dose ◽  
Olfactory Learning ◽  
Memory Retention ◽  
Proboscis Extension Response ◽  
Learning Abilities ◽  
Proboscis Extension ◽  
Ld50 Value

Chlorpyrifos is a widely used organophosphorus insecticide. The acute oral 24 h median lethal dose (LD50) value of chlorpyrifos in Apis mellifera and in Apis cerana was estimated to assess differential acute chlorpyrifos toxicity in the two bee species. The LD50 values of chlorpyrifos in A. mellifera and in A. cerana are 103.4 ng/bee and 81.8 ng/bee, respectively, which suggests A. cerana bees are slightly more sensitive than A. mellifera bees to the toxicity of chlorpyrifos. Doses half the acute LD50 of chlorpyrifos were selected to study behavioral changes in the two bee species using proboscis extension response assay. A. mellifera foragers treated with chlorpyrifos showed significantly lower response to the 10% sucrose solution compared to control bees after 2, 24 and 48 h. Chlorpyrifos significantly impaired the olfactory learning abilities and 2 h memory retention of forager bees regardless of honey bee species, which may affect the foraging success of bees exposed to chlorpyrifos.

scholarly journals Configural perception of a binary olfactory mixture in honey bees, as in humans, rodents and newborn rabbits

2020 ◽  
Vol 223 (21) ◽  
pp. jeb227611 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie-Anne Wycke ◽  
Gérard Coureaud ◽  
Thierry Thomas-Danguin ◽  
Jean-Christophe Sandoz
Keyword(s):  
Difficult Problem ◽  
Proboscis Extension Response ◽  
Odor Quality ◽  
Complex Stimuli ◽  
General Rules ◽  
Odor Mixtures ◽  
Proboscis Extension ◽  
Invertebrate Model ◽  
Definition Of

ABSTRACTHow animals perceive and learn complex stimuli, such as mixtures of odorants, is a difficult problem, for which the definition of general rules across the animal kingdom remains elusive. Recent experiments conducted in human and rodent adults as well as newborn rabbits suggested that these species process particular odor mixtures in a similar, configural manner. Thus, the binary mixture of ethyl isobutyrate (EI) and ethyl maltol (EM) induces configural processing in humans, who perceive a mixture odor quality (pineapple) that is distinct from the quality of each component (strawberry and caramel). Similarly, rabbit neonates treat the mixture differently, at least in part, from its components. In the present study, we asked whether the properties of the EI.EM mixture extend to an influential invertebrate model, the honey bee Apis mellifera. We used appetitive conditioning of the proboscis extension response to evaluate how bees perceive the EI.EM mixture. In a first experiment, we measured perceptual similarity between this mixture and its components in a generalization protocol. In a second experiment, we measured the ability of bees to differentiate between the mixture and both of its components in a negative patterning protocol. In each experimental series, the performance of bees with this mixture was compared with that obtained with four other mixtures, chosen from previous work in humans, newborn rabbits and bees. Our results suggest that when having to differentiate mixture and components, bees treat the EI.EM in a robust configural manner, similarly to mammals, suggesting the existence of common perceptual rules across the animal kindgdom.

Glomerular activation patterns and the perception of odor mixtures

2008 ◽  
Vol 27 (10) ◽  
pp. 2676-2685 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly J. Grossman ◽  
Atul K. Mallik ◽  
Jessica Ross ◽  
Leslie M. Kay ◽  
Naoum P. Issa
Keyword(s):  
Activation Patterns ◽  
Odor Mixtures

The proboscis extension response

Honey Bees ◽  
2002 ◽  
pp. 67-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Pham-Del√®gue ◽  
A Decourtye
Keyword(s):  
Proboscis Extension Response ◽  
Proboscis Extension

scholarly journals Combined secondary compounds naturally found in nectars enhance honeybee cognition and survival

2021 ◽  
Vol 224 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ignacio L. Marchi ◽  
Florencia Palottini ◽  
Walter M. Farina
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Sucrose Solution ◽  
Synergistic Effects ◽  
Secondary Compounds ◽  
Learning Performance ◽  
Memory Retention ◽  
Olfactory Conditioning ◽  
Significant Survival ◽  
Short And Long Term

ABSTRACT The alkaloid caffeine and the amino acid arginine are present as secondary compounds in nectars of some flower species visited by pollinators. Each of these compounds affects honeybee appetitive behaviours by improving foraging activity and learning. While caffeine potentiates responses of mushroom body neurons involved in honeybee learning processes, arginine acts as precursor of nitric oxide, enhancing the protein synthesis involved in memory formation. Despite existing evidence on how these compounds affect honeybee cognitive ability individually, their combined effect on this is still unknown. We evaluated acquisition and memory retention in a classical olfactory conditioning procedure, in which the reward (sucrose solution) contained traces of caffeine, arginine or a mixture of the two. The results indicate that the presence of the single compounds and their most concentrated mixture increases bees' learning performance. However, memory retention, measured in the short and long term, increases significantly only in those treatments offering combinations of the two compounds in the reward. Additionally, the most concentrated mixture triggers a significant survival rate in the conditioned bees. Thus, some nectar compounds, when combined, show synergistic effects on cognitive ability and survival in an insect.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document