Abstract
The proboscis extension reflex (PER) is a common classical conditioned reflex which is widely used in the neurology and ethology. In honeybees, PER experiments can train bees to associate an odor with a reward or punishment. Here we present a variation of the PER experiment in Apis mellifera that trains honeybees using only one antenna. This variation on the PER paradigm could assist research efforts in fields which study lateralization within the nervous system.
Keywords: PER, Honeybee, Neuroscience, Odor
Background
Vertebrate brains can solve complex tasks with regional specialization (Kandel et al., 2000) and this may also be the case in invertebrates (Frasnelli et al., 2010). To date, experimental evidence for lateralization, a form of regional specialization, in honeybees has been documented for simple olfactory classical conditioning. For example, asymmetry in use of the antennae (Letzkus et al., 2006; Rogers and Vallortigara, 2008) with associated asymmetry of anatomy (i.e., sensilla number and electroantennographic responses of antennal neurons (Anfora et al., 2010; Frasnelli et al., 2010)). The honeybee Apis mellifera displays a clear laterality in responding to learned odors (Guo et al., 2016). By training honeybees on two different versions of the well-known proboscis extension reflex (PER) paradigm (Kuwabara et al., 1957; Bitterman et al., 1983), we demonstrated that bees respond to odors better when they are trained through their right antenna. To our knowledge, that was the first report of asymmetrical learning performance in an insect. In summary, our modified protocol can be used to further explore lateralization in invertebrates.
Materials and Reagents
Equipment
Procedure
Data analysis
The data of our experiment has been published in Scientific Reports (Guo et al., 2016). The training results are shown in Table 1. Table 1. PER training result
Notes
When bees are given saturated saline solution as negative stimulus, it is important to only let them eat a little saturated saline solution. We have noticed that bees that consume a lot of the saturated saline solution tend to die after training.
Recipes
Acknowledgments
We acknowledge Prof. Yong Cao for providing the silicon compound for covering the antenna. This work was supported by Chinese Academy of Science Strategic Project of Leading Science and Technology (XDA01020402), the National High Technology Research and Development Program (“863” Program) of China (2012AA020402 and 2012AA02A202), the Earmarked Fund for China Agriculture Research System (No. CARS-45-KXJ12), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31260524) and the Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China (No. 20123603120005). The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest or competing interest.
References
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