Effect of age,behaviour and social environment on honey bee brain plasticity |
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Authors: | Joanna Maleszka Andrew B Barron Paul G Helliwell Ryszard Maleszka |
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Institution: | (1) Molecular Genetics and Evolution Group and ARC Centre for Molecular Genetics of Development, School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia;(2) Department of Brain, Behaviour and Evolution, Macquarie University, 209 Culloden Road, North Ryde, NSW, 2109, Australia |
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Abstract: | We examined the effects of behaviour, age and social environment on mushroom body volume in adult bees. The mushroom bodies
are regions of the central brain important for sensory integration and learning. Their volume was influenced by behaviour
throughout life: always larger in forager bees than age-matched nurse bees, even in old bees up to 93 days of age as adults.
Mushroom body development was influenced by the social environment in the first 8 days of adult life, with different environments
having markedly different effects on mushroom body size. Compared to hive-reared bees, isolation slowed mushroom body growth,
but bees reared in isolation confined with a single dead bee showed a dramatic increase in mushroom body volume comparable
to that seen in active foragers. Despite their precocious mushroom body development, these bees did not show improved performance
in an olfactory learning test. Since simple environmental manipulations can both accelerate and delay mushroom body growth
in young bees, and since mushroom body volume is sensitive to behaviour throughout life, the honey bee has great potential
as a model for exploring the interactions between environment, behaviour and brain structure. |
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Keywords: | Phenotypic plasticity Mushroom body Behavioural development Honey bee Apis mellifera |
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