Identification of a new contingency-based response in honey bees (Apis mellifera) through revision of the proboscis extension conditioning paradigm

1997 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 479-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dolores A. Buckbee ◽  
Charles I. Abramson
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Conditioning Paradigm ◽  
Proboscis Extension ◽  
Proboscis Extension Conditioning

scholarly journals Honey bees can store and retrieve independent memory traces after complex experiences that combine appetitive and aversive associations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Klappenbach ◽  
Agustin E Lara ◽  
Fernando F Locatelli
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bees ◽  
Differential Conditioning ◽  
Training Session ◽  
Aversive Conditioning ◽  
Appetitive Conditioning ◽  
Olfactory Conditioning ◽  
Proboscis Extension Response ◽  
Conditioning Paradigm ◽  
Aversive Events ◽  
Proboscis Extension

Real-world experiences do often mix appetitive and aversive events. Understanding the ability of animals to extract, store and use this information is an important issue in neurobiology. We used honey bees as model to study learning and memory after a differential conditioning that combines appetitive and aversive training trials. First of all, we describe an aversive conditioning paradigm that constitutes a clear opposite of the well known appetitive olfactory conditioning of the proboscis extension response. A neutral odour is presented paired with the bitter substance quinine. Aversive memory is evidenced later as an odour-specific impairment in appetitive conditioning. Then we tested the effect of mixing appetitive and aversive conditioning trials distributed along the same training session. Differential conditioning protocols like this were used before to study the ability to discriminate odours, however they were not focused on whether appetitive and aversive memories are formed. We found that after a differential conditioning, honey bees establish independent appetitive and aversive memories that do not interfere with each other during acquisition or storage. Finally, we moved the question forward to retrieval and memory expression to evaluate what happens when appetitive and the aversive learned odours are mixed during test. Interestingly, opposite memories compete in a way that they do not cancel each other out. Honey bees showed the ability to switch from expressing appetitive to aversive memory depending on their satiation level.

scholarly journals Honeybees ( Apis mellifera ) learn to discriminate the smell of organic compounds from their respective deuterated isotopomers

2014 ◽  
Vol 281 (1778) ◽  
pp. 20133089 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wulfila Gronenberg ◽  
Ajay Raikhelkar ◽  
Eric Abshire ◽  
Jennifer Stevens ◽  
Eric Epstein ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Receptor Protein ◽  
Sensory Cells ◽  
Molecular Vibrations ◽  
Conditioning Paradigm ◽  
Odour Discrimination ◽  
Odorant Molecule ◽  
Proboscis Extension ◽  
Structural Aspects ◽  
Primary Interaction

The understanding of physiological and molecular processes underlying the sense of smell has made considerable progress during the past three decades, revealing the cascade of molecular steps that lead to the activation of olfactory receptor (OR) neurons. However, the mode of primary interaction of odorant molecules with the OR proteins within the sensory cells is still enigmatic. Two different concepts try to explain these interactions: the ‘odotope hypothesis’ suggests that OR proteins recognize structural aspects of the odorant molecule, whereas the ‘vibration hypothesis’ proposes that intra-molecular vibrations are the basis for the recognition of the odorant by the receptor protein. The vibration hypothesis predicts that OR proteins should be able to discriminate compounds containing deuterium from their common counterparts which contain hydrogen instead of deuterium. This study tests this prediction in honeybees ( Apis mellifera ) using the proboscis extension reflex learning in a differential conditioning paradigm. Rewarding one odour (e.g. a deuterated compound) with sucrose and not rewarding the respective analogue (e.g. hydrogen-based odorant) shows that honeybees readily learn to discriminate hydrogen-based odorants from their deuterated counterparts and supports the idea that intra-molecular vibrations may contribute to odour discrimination.

scholarly journals Do Honey Bees (Apis mellifera) Form Cognitive Representations of Unconditioned Stimuli?

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kiri Li N. Stauch ◽  
Harrington Wells ◽  
Charles I. Abramson
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Experimental Designs ◽  
Not Given ◽  
Cognitive Representation ◽  
Proboscis Extension Response ◽  
Cognitive Representations ◽  
Avoidance Behaviors ◽  
The Us ◽  
Proboscis Extension

Previous research looking at expectancy in animals has used various experimental designs focusing on appetitive and avoidance behaviors. In this study, honey bees (Apis mellifera) were tested ina series of three proboscis extension response (PER) experiments to determine to what degree honey bees’ form a cognitive-representation of an unconditioned stimulus (US). Tthe first experiment, bees were presented with either a 2 sec. sucrose US or 2 sec. honey US appetitive reward and the proboscis-extension duration was measured under each scenario. The PER duration was longer for the honey US even though each US was presented for just 2 sec. Honey bees in the second experiment were tested during extinction trials on a conditioned stimulus (CS) of cinnamon or lavender that was paired with either the sucrose US or honey US in the acquisition trials. The proportion of bees showing the PER response to the CS was recorded for each extinction trial for each US scenario, as was the duration of the proboscis extension for each bee. Neither measure differed between the honey US and sucrose US scenarios, In experiment three, bees were presented with a cinnamon or lavender CS paired with either honey US or sucrose US in a set of acquisition trials, but here the US was not given until after the proboscis was retracted. The PER duration after the CS, and again subsequent after the US, were recorded. While the PER duration after the US was longer for honey, the PER duration after the CS did not differ between honey US and sucrose US.

Serial Dilutions: A New Area of Research for Animal Behavior

2012 ◽  
Vol 111 (2) ◽  
pp. 473-492 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sondra L. Nolf ◽  
David Philip Arthur Craig ◽  
Charles I. Abramson
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Mortality Rate ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Animal Behavior ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
History Of ◽  
Proboscis Extension ◽  
Serial Dilutions

This paper attempts to stimulate the psychological investigation of homeopathy and serially agitated dilutions. The history of homeopathy and serial dilutions is provided in a literature review of selected research areas. Two original illustrative experiments are also presented and discussed. The first examined the effect of serially agitated dilutions of Sevin® on the mortality rate of honey bees ( Apis mellifera). In a second experiment, the effect of serially agitated dilutions of sucrose on proboscis extension in honey bees was assessed. No differences were found between serially agitated dilutions of pesticides and sucrose compared with dilutions alone. Implications, limitations, and proposed further work are discussed.

A Rapid Bioassay for Detection of Adulterated Beeswax

1999 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 265-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Italo S. Aquino ◽  
Charles I. Abramson ◽  
Mark E. Payton
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Initial Component ◽  
Proboscis Extension Reflex ◽  
Physical Methods ◽  
Carnauba Wax ◽  
Comprehensive Program ◽  
Rapid Bioassay ◽  
Proboscis Extension

Proboscis extension was used to test the ability of honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) to detect beeswax adulterated with carnauba wax (Copernicia cerifera Arruda Camara). Subjects were exposed to either 100% beeswax (honeycomb) (e.g., no carnauba wax), 100% beeswax (melted) (e.g., as commercial beeswax cake), 90%, 80%, 70%, 60%, 50%, 40%, 30%, 20%, 10% beeswax/carnauba mixtures, 0% beeswax (i.e., 100% carnauba wax), or unscented air. Maximum responding was observed in bees exposed to the scent of honey comb or melted beeswax cake. The addition of as little as 10% carnauba wax was readily detected and resulted in reduced proboscis extensions. Few proboscis extensions occurred to bees exposed to unscented air or 100% carnauba wax. The results indicate that the proboscis extension reflex can be used as a rapid, inexpensive, and reliable bioassay for the detection of adulterated beeswax. The bioassay will be useful in developing countries where chemical and physical methods are unavailable for detecting adulterated beeswax and can serve as an initial component in a comprehensive program of adulteration detection. An equation that predicts the probability of a proboscis response given the percent of adulterated wax is presented.

An Automated Apparatus for Conditioning Proboscis Extension in Honey Bees, Apis mellifera L.

2001 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles I. Abramson ◽  
B. J. Boyd
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Classical Conditioning ◽  
Unconditioned Stimulus ◽  
Pavlovian Conditioning ◽  
Discrimination Learning ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Automatic Programming ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Proboscis Extension ◽  
Series Of Experiments

An apparatus is described for the study of classical conditioning of proboscis extension in harnessed honey bees, Apis mellifera L., that permits automatic programming of events and recording of data. The apparatus is easy to use, accommodates a wide range of stimuli and can be used to study both associative and nonassociative learning. The technique was evaluated in a series of experiments in which the performance of bees was compared under automated and traditional methods of conditioning. The results indicated that the automated apparatus can successfully be used to study Pavlovian conditioning, discrimination learning, and habituation. A unique finding was that the odor of honeycomb can serve as an unconditioned stimulus to support Pavlovian conditioning.

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