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Effect of age, behaviour and social environment on honey bee brain plasticity

Maleszka, Joanna; Barron, Andrew; Helliwell, Paul; Maleszka, Ryszard

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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...[Show more]

dc.contributor.authorMaleszka, Joanna
dc.contributor.authorBarron, Andrew
dc.contributor.authorHelliwell, Paul
dc.contributor.authorMaleszka, Ryszard
dc.date.accessioned2015-12-10T23:06:52Z
dc.identifier.issn0340-7594
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1885/62842
dc.description.abstractWe 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.
dc.publisherSpringer
dc.sourceJournal of Comparative Physiology A: Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology
dc.subjectKeywords: age; aging; analysis of variance; animal; animal behavior; article; bee; brain; chi square distribution; circadian rhythm; conditioning; cytology; feeding behavior; histology; mushroom body; nerve cell plasticity; odor; olfactory system; physiology; socia Behavioural development; Honey bee; Mushroom body; Phenotypic plasticity
dc.titleEffect of age, behaviour and social environment on honey bee brain plasticity
dc.typeJournal article
local.description.notesImported from ARIES
local.identifier.citationvolume195
dc.date.issued2009
local.identifier.absfor060805 - Animal Neurobiology
local.identifier.ariespublicationu9204316xPUB742
local.type.statusPublished Version
local.contributor.affiliationMaleszka, Joanna, College of Medicine, Biology and Environment, ANU
local.contributor.affiliationBarron, Andrew, Macquarie University
local.contributor.affiliationHelliwell, Paul, College of Medicine, Biology and Environment, ANU
local.contributor.affiliationMaleszka, Ryszard, College of Medicine, Biology and Environment, ANU
local.description.embargo2037-12-31
local.bibliographicCitation.issue8
local.bibliographicCitation.startpage1
local.bibliographicCitation.lastpage8
local.identifier.doi10.1007/s00359-009-0449-0
dc.date.updated2016-02-24T11:53:49Z
local.identifier.scopusID2-s2.0-69449093865
local.identifier.thomsonID000268546700003
CollectionsANU Research Publications

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