scholarly journals Different Roles for Honey Bee Mushroom Bodies and Central Complex in Visual Learning of Colored Lights in an Aversive Conditioning Assay

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny A. Plath ◽  
Brian V. Entler ◽  
Nicholas H. Kirkerud ◽  
Ulrike Schlegel ◽  
C. Giovanni Galizia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bee ◽  
Visual Learning ◽  
Aversive Conditioning ◽  
Central Complex ◽  
Mushroom Bodies ◽  
Colored Lights

scholarly journals Parallel mechanisms of visual memory formation across distinct regions of the honey bee brain

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arián Avalos ◽  
Ian M. Traniello ◽  
Eddie Pérez Claudio ◽  
Tugrul Giray
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bee ◽  
Behavioral Ecology ◽  
Visual Memory ◽  
Visual Learning ◽  
Memory Formation ◽  
Higher Order ◽  
Sensory Transduction ◽  
Floral Resources ◽  
Mushroom Bodies ◽  
Optic Lobes

Visual learning is vital to the behavioral ecology of the Western honey bee (Apis mellifera). Honey bee workers forage for floral resources, a behavior that requires the learning and long-term memory of visual landmarks, but how these memories are mapped to the brain remains poorly understood. To address this gap in our understanding, we collected bees that successfully learned visual associations in a conditioned aversion paradigm and compared gene expression correlates of memory formation in the mushroom bodies, a higher-order sensory integration center classically thought to contribute to learning, as well as the optic lobes, the primary visual neuropil responsible for sensory transduction of visual information. We quantitated expression of CREB and CaMKii, two classical genetic markers of learning and fen-1, a gene specifically associated with punishment learning in vertebrates. As expected, we report substantial involvement of the mushroom bodies for all three markers but additionally demonstrate the involvement of the optic lobes across a similar time course. Our findings imply the molecular involvement of a sensory neuropil during visual associative learning parallel to a higher-order brain region, furthering our understanding of how a tiny brain processes environmental signals.

scholarly journals Gap junction networks in mushroom bodies participate in visual learning and memory in Drosophila

eLife ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qingqing Liu ◽  
Xing Yang ◽  
Jingsong Tian ◽  
Zhongbao Gao ◽  
Meng Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gap Junctions ◽  
Gap Junction ◽  
Learning And Memory ◽  
Visual Learning ◽  
Mushroom Bodies ◽  
Single Pair ◽  
Neural Information ◽  
Neural Information Processing ◽  
Coupling Approach

Gap junctions are widely distributed in the brains across species and play essential roles in neural information processing. However, the role of gap junctions in insect cognition remains poorly understood. Using a flight simulator paradigm and genetic tools, we found that gap junctions are present in Drosophila Kenyon cells (KCs), the major neurons of the mushroom bodies (MBs), and showed that they play an important role in visual learning and memory. Using a dye coupling approach, we determined the distribution of gap junctions in KCs. Furthermore, we identified a single pair of MB output neurons (MBONs) that possess a gap junction connection to KCs, and provide strong evidence that this connection is also required for visual learning and memory. Together, our results reveal gap junction networks in KCs and the KC-MBON circuit, and bring new insight into the synaptic network underlying fly’s visual learning and memory.

scholarly journals Genetics in the Honey Bee: Achievements and Prospects toward the Functional Analysis of Molecular and Neural Mechanisms Underlying Social Behaviors

Insects ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroki Kohno ◽  
Takeo Kubo
Keyword(s):  
Candidate Genes ◽  
Honey Bee ◽  
Genetic Manipulation ◽  
Expression Profiles ◽  
Model Organism ◽  
Social Behaviors ◽  
Forward Genetics ◽  
Mushroom Bodies ◽  
Functional Analyses ◽  
The Brain

The European honey bee is a model organism for studying social behaviors. Comprehensive analyses focusing on the differential expression profiles of genes between the brains of nurse bees and foragers, or in the mushroom bodies—the brain structure related to learning and memory, and multimodal sensory integration—has identified candidate genes related to honey bee behaviors. Despite accumulating knowledge on the expression profiles of genes related to honey bee behaviors, it remains unclear whether these genes actually regulate social behaviors in the honey bee, in part because of the scarcity of genetic manipulation methods available for application to the honey bee. In this review, we describe the genetic methods applied to studies of the honey bee, ranging from classical forward genetics to recently developed gene modification methods using transposon and CRISPR/Cas9. We then discuss future functional analyses using these genetic methods targeting genes identified by the preceding research. Because no particular genes or neurons unique to social insects have been found yet, further exploration of candidate genes/neurons correlated with sociality through comprehensive analyses of mushroom bodies in the aculeate species can provide intriguing targets for functional analyses, as well as insight into the molecular and neural bases underlying social behaviors.

Volume and density of microglomeruli in the honey bee mushroom bodies do not predict performance on a foraging task

2017 ◽  
Vol 77 (9) ◽  
pp. 1057-1071 ◽  
Author(s):  
Byron N. Van Nest ◽  
Ashley E. Wagner ◽  
Glen S. Marrs ◽  
Susan E. Fahrbach
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bee ◽  
Mushroom Bodies ◽  
Foraging Task

Volume Changes in the Mushroom Bodies of Adult Honey Bee Queens

1995 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.E. Fahrbach ◽  
T. Giray ◽  
G.E. Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bee ◽  
Mushroom Bodies ◽  
Volume Changes ◽  
Honey Bee Queens

scholarly journals Author response: Gap junction networks in mushroom bodies participate in visual learning and memory in Drosophila

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qingqing Liu ◽  
Xing Yang ◽  
Jingsong Tian ◽  
Zhongbao Gao ◽  
Meng Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gap Junction ◽  
Learning And Memory ◽  
Visual Learning ◽  
Author Response ◽  
Mushroom Bodies
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