Limits on volume changes in the mushroom bodies of the honey bee brain

Fahrbach, Susan E.; Farris, Sarah M.; Sullivan, Joseph P.; Robinson, Gene E.

doi:10.1002/neu.10256

Cited by 72 publications

(73 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…Previous studies have shown that neurogenesis is active until pupal stage four, decreases drastically after onset of apoptosis, and is absent in the adult brain (41,42). The adult MBs exhibit age-and experiencerelated volume changes, as shown also for fruit flies, ants, and honey bees (39,(43)(44)(45)(46)(47). In the fruit fly, MB volume was affected by visual experience, and in ants and honey bees, volume increase was associated with age and behavioral maturation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

Synaptic organization in the adult honey bee brain is influenced by brood-temperature control during pupal development

Groh

Tautz

Rößler

2004

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

227

240

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Recent studies have shown that the behavioral performance of adult honey bees is influenced by the temperature experienced during pupal development. Here we explore whether there are temperature-mediated effects on the brain. We raised pupae at different constant temperatures between 29 and 37°C and performed neuroanatomical analyses of the adult brains. Analyses focused on sensory-input regions in the mushroom bodies, brain areas associated with higher-order processing such as learning and memory. Distinct synaptic complexes [microglomeruli (MG)] within the mushroom body calyces were visualized by using fluorophoreconjugated phalloidin and an antibody to synapsin. The numbers of MG were different in bees that had been raised at different temperatures, and these differences persisted after the first week of adult life. In the olfactory-input region (lip), MG numbers were highest in bees raised at the temperature normally maintained in brood cells (34.5°C) and significantly decreased in bees raised at 1°C below and above this norm. Interestingly, in the neighboring visual-input region (collar), MG numbers were less affected by temperature. We conclude that thermoregulatory control of brood rearing can generate area-and modality-specific effects on synaptic neuropils in the adult brain. We propose that resulting differences in the synaptic circuitry may affect neuronal plasticity and may underlie temperature-mediated effects on multimodal communication and learning.I n honey bee colonies, brood temperature is controlled precisely within a temperature range of 33-36°C (1, 2). In the central brood area, fluctuations are as small as 35 Ϯ 0.5°C during the pupal period (3, 4). Exposure to strong deviations from normal brood temperatures is known to result in increased mortality and morphological deficits (1, 5). Environmentally induced temperature changes within the hive are compensated by individual honey bee workers via endothermic heat production or evaporation cooling (4, 6, 7). Thermoregulation during winter is achieved also by endothermic heat production, but with lower absolute temperatures and less precision compared with brood rearing in summer (8,9). A recent study demonstrated that the temperature experienced during pupal development influences the behavioral performance of adult bees (10). Worker bees that had been raised at lower temperatures (within the range of naturally occurring temperatures) performed less well in dance communication and olfactory learning than bees raised at higher temperatures.As in other holometabolous insects, postembryonic development in honey bees includes complete larval-adult metamorphosis. In the pupa, the larval nervous system becomes completely remodeled to accommodate the development of adultspecific sensory organs and motor systems, which are associated with the extraordinary changes in behavior. The hormonal and neuronal processes underlying this remarkable plasticity have been the subject of numerous studies, most of them performed on the sphinx moth (Manduca sexta) and...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

Synaptic organization in the adult honey bee brain is influenced by brood-temperature control during pupal development

Groh

Tautz

Rößler

2004

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

227

240

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“…The increase in total insoluble brain proteins, as well as higher soluble amounts in the 14-200kDa range, therefore, is unlikely to indicate that bees with high forager age have deficient systems for brain protein degradation/turnover. Perhaps the results rather reflect on previously established patterns of maturational brain plasticity, including brain growth, or other maturational changes in the brain metabolism of the foragers (Fahrbach et al, 1995;Fahrbach et al, 2003;Alaux et al, 2009). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 75%

Flight restriction prevents associative learning deficits but not changes in brain protein-adduct formation during honeybee ageing

Tolfsen

Baker

Kreibich

et al. 2011

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARYHoneybees (Apis mellifera) senesce within 2weeks after they discontinue nest tasks in favour of foraging. Foraging involves metabolically demanding flight, which in houseflies (Musca domestica) and fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) is associated with markers of ageing such as increased mortality and accumulation of oxidative damage. The role of flight in honeybee ageing is incompletely understood. We assessed relationships between honeybee flight activity and ageing by simulating rain that confined foragers to their colonies most of the day. After 15days on average, flight-restricted foragers were compared with bees with normal (free) flight: one group that foraged for ~15days and two additional control groups, for flight duration and chronological age, that foraged for ~5days. Free flight over 15days on average resulted in impaired associative learning ability. In contrast, flight-restricted foragers did as well in learning as bees that foraged for 5days on average. This negative effect of flight activity was not influenced by chronological age or gustatory responsiveness, a measure of the bees' motivation to learn. Contrasting their intact learning ability, flight-restricted bees accrued the most oxidative brain damage as indicated by malondialdehyde protein adduct levels in crude cytosolic fractions. Concentrations of mono-and poly-ubiquitinated brain proteins were equal between the groups, whereas differences in total protein amounts suggested changes in brain protein metabolism connected to forager age, but not flight. We propose that intense flight is causal to brain deficits in aged bees, and that oxidative protein damage is unlikely to be the underlying mechanism.Supplementary material available online at

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“…Neural architecture has been shown to be influenced by age, task and experience. Principally socially mediated plasticity in the mushroom body (MB) has been observed in the age-induced transition from inside tasks, such as nursing the offspring, to more complex external foraging tasks (Fahrbach et al, 1998;Smith et al, 2010;Farris et al, 2001;Fahrbach et al, 2003). Foraging demands new types of learning, such as identifying and memorizing the colony's location, spatial orientation using environmental cues for navigation and social communication such as the dance language to recruit foragers (Seeley, 1995).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aversive conditioning in honey bees (Apis mellifera anatolica): a comparison of drones and workers

Dinges

Avalos

Abramson

et al. 2013

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Limits on volume changes in the mushroom bodies of the honey bee brain

Cited by 72 publications

References 60 publications

Synaptic organization in the adult honey bee brain is influenced by brood-temperature control during pupal development

Synaptic organization in the adult honey bee brain is influenced by brood-temperature control during pupal development

Flight restriction prevents associative learning deficits but not changes in brain protein-adduct formation during honeybee ageing

Aversive conditioning in honey bees (Apis mellifera anatolica): a comparison of drones and workers

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