Biomaterial Database

The effects of age on olfactory learning and memory in the honey bee Apis mellifera. 1997

S Ray, and B Ferneyhough

School of Biological and Molecular Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Headington, UK.

THE proboscis extension reflex (PER) has been used extensively in studies of bee learning. This paper reports the effect of age of bees on conditioning of the response. An initial experiment investigated acquisition and retention of PER conditioning in bees emerged from a sealed brood in a laboratory incubator. Reliable acquisition and retention of the learning was not achieved until bees were 6 days of age. With comparable learning and memory to mature forager bees only at day 10. In a second study, bees from the same colonies were reared in a full hive colony, and a much slower development of this behaviour was seen. The results suggest that the behavioural role of the bee in the hive colony is as important as brain maturation for olfactory learning. This was explored further by producing precocious learning abilities in young (3-day-old) bees by preventing their normal nurse bee activities. The results are discussed in terms of the anatomical maturation of the bee nervous system and behavioral demands on the olfactory system throughout adult development.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007858	Learning	Relatively permanent change in behavior that is the result of past experience or practice. The concept includes the acquisition of knowledge.	Phenomenography
D008568	Memory	Complex mental function having four distinct phases: (1) memorizing or learning, (2) retention, (3) recall, and (4) recognition. Clinically, it is usually subdivided into immediate, recent, and remote memory.
D012018	Reflex	An involuntary movement or exercise of function in a part, excited in response to a stimulus applied to the periphery and transmitted to the brain or spinal cord.
D003213	Conditioning, Psychological	Simple form of learning involving the formation, strengthening, or weakening of an association between a stimulus and a response.	Conditioning, Psychology,Psychological Conditioning,Social Learning Theory,Social Learning Theories,Theory, Social Learning
D000375	Aging	The gradual irreversible changes in structure and function of an organism that occur as a result of the passage of time.	Senescence,Aging, Biological,Biological Aging
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D001516	Bees	Insect members of the superfamily Apoidea, found almost everywhere, particularly on flowers. About 3500 species occur in North America. They differ from most WASPS in that their young are fed honey and pollen rather than animal food.	Apidae,Apis,Apis mellifera,Apis mellifica,European Honey Bee,Honey Bee Drone,Bee,Bee, European Honey,Drone, Honey Bee,European Honey Bees,Honey Bee Drones,Honey Bee, European
D012903	Smell	The ability to detect scents or odors, such as the function of OLFACTORY RECEPTOR NEURONS.	Olfaction,Sense of Smell,Smell Sense