scholarly journals Immunocytochemical Mapping of an RDL-Like GABA Receptor Subunit and of GABA in Brain Structures Related to Learning and Memory in the Cricket Acheta domesticus

1998 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-89
Author(s):  
Colette Strambi ◽  
Myriam Cayre ◽  
David B. Sattelle ◽  
Roger Augier ◽  
Pierre Charpin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Learning And Memory ◽  
Gaba Receptors ◽  
Antennal Lobe ◽  
Gaba Receptor ◽  
Brain Structures ◽  
Acheta Domesticus ◽  
Central Complex ◽  
Mushroom Bodies ◽  
Insect Brain ◽  
Ellipsoid Body

The distribution of putative RDL-like GABA receptors and of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the brain of the adult house cricket Acheta domesticus was studied using specific antisera. Special attention was given to brain structures known to be related to learning and memory. The main immunostaining for the RDL-like GABA receptor was observed in mushroom bodies, in particular the upper part of mushroom body peduncle and the two arms of the posterior calyx. Weaker immunostaining was detected in the distal part of the peduncle and in the α and β lobes. The dorso- and ventrolateral protocerebrum neuropils appeared rich in RDL-like GABA receptors. Staining was also detected in the glomeruli of the antennal lobe, as well as in the ellipsoid body of the central complex. Many neurons clustered in groups exhibit GABA-like immunoreactivity. Tracts that were strongly immunostained innervated both the calyces and the lobes of mushroom bodies. The glomeruli of the antennal lobe, the ellipsoid body, as well as neuropils of the dorso- and ventrolateral protocerebrum were also rich in GABA-like immuno- reactivity. The data demonstrated a good correlation between the distribution of the GABA-like and of the RDL-like GABA receptor immunoreactivity. The prominent distribution of RDL-like GABA receptor subunits, in particular areas of mushroom bodies and antennal lobes, underlines the importance of inhibitory signals in information processing in these major integrative centers of the insect brain.

scholarly journals Neural substrate for higher-order learning in an insect: Mushroom bodies are necessary for configural discriminations

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (43) ◽  
pp. E5854-E5862 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Marc Devaud ◽  
Thomas Papouin ◽  
Julie Carcaud ◽  
Jean-Christophe Sandoz ◽  
Bernd Grünewald ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Brain Structures ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Memory Storage ◽  
Learning Theories ◽  
Mushroom Bodies ◽  
Insect Brain ◽  
Configural Learning ◽  
Storage And Retrieval ◽  
Learning Tasks ◽  
Elemental Learning

Learning theories distinguish elemental from configural learning based on their different complexity. Although the former relies on simple and unambiguous links between the learned events, the latter deals with ambiguous discriminations in which conjunctive representations of events are learned as being different from their elements. In mammals, configural learning is mediated by brain areas that are either dispensable or partially involved in elemental learning. We studied whether the insect brain follows the same principles and addressed this question in the honey bee, the only insect in which configural learning has been demonstrated. We used a combination of conditioning protocols, disruption of neural activity, and optophysiological recording of olfactory circuits in the bee brain to determine whether mushroom bodies (MBs), brain structures that are essential for memory storage and retrieval, are equally necessary for configural and elemental olfactory learning. We show that bees with anesthetized MBs distinguish odors and learn elemental olfactory discriminations but not configural ones, such as positive and negative patterning. Inhibition of GABAergic signaling in the MB calyces, but not in the lobes, impairs patterning discrimination, thus suggesting a requirement of GABAergic feedback neurons from the lobes to the calyces for nonelemental learning. These results uncover a previously unidentified role for MBs besides memory storage and retrieval: namely, their implication in the acquisition of ambiguous discrimination problems. Thus, in insects as in mammals, specific brain regions are recruited when the ambiguity of learning tasks increases, a fact that reveals similarities in the neural processes underlying the elucidation of ambiguous tasks across species.

scholarly journals Distributed plasticity in ant visual pathways following colour learning

2019 ◽  
Vol 286 (1896) ◽  
pp. 20182813 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayse Yilmaz ◽  
Kornelia Grübel ◽  
Johannes Spaethe ◽  
Wolfgang Rössler
Keyword(s):  
Learning And Memory ◽  
Light Exposure ◽  
Visual Pathways ◽  
Memory Formation ◽  
Central Complex ◽  
Insect Brain ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Neuronal Circuits ◽  
Efficient Design

Colour processing at early stages of visual pathways is a topic of intensive study both in vertebrate and invertebrate species. However, it is still unclear how colour learning and memory formation affects an insect brain in the peripheral processing stages and high-order integration centres, and whether associative colour experiences are reflected in plasticity of underlying neuronal circuits. To address this issue, we used Camponotus blandus ants as their proven colour learning and memory capabilities, precisely controllable age and experience, and already known central visual pathways offer unique access to analyse plasticity in neuronal circuits for colour vision in a miniature brain. The potential involvement of distinct neuropils—optic lobes (OLs), mushroom body (MB) input (collar) and output (vertical lobe), anterior optic tubercle (AOTU) and central complex (CX)—in associative colour experiences was assessed by quantification of volumetric and synaptic changes (MB collar) directly after colour conditioning and, 3 days later, after the establishment of long-term memory (LTM). To account for potential effects of non-associative light exposure, we compared neuronal changes in the brain of colour-naive foragers with those of foragers that had been exposed to light in a non-associative way. The results clearly show that the OLs, AOTU, and CX respond with plastic changes after colour learning and LTM formation. This suggests a complex neuronal network for colour learning and memory formation involving multiple brain levels. Such a colour-processing network probably represents an efficient design promoting fast and accurate behavioural decisions during orientation and navigation.

scholarly journals Classification of odorants across layers in locust olfactory pathway

2016 ◽  
Vol 115 (5) ◽  
pp. 2303-2316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pavel Sanda ◽  
Tiffany Kee ◽  
Nitin Gupta ◽  
Mark Stopfer ◽  
Maxim Bazhenov
Keyword(s):  
Antennal Lobe ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Classification Error ◽  
Mushroom Bodies ◽  
Insect Brain ◽  
Projection Neurons ◽  
Olfactory Pathway ◽  
Lateral Horn ◽  
Odor Classification

Olfactory processing takes place across multiple layers of neurons from the transduction of odorants in the periphery, to odor quality processing, learning, and decision making in higher olfactory structures. In insects, projection neurons (PNs) in the antennal lobe send odor information to the Kenyon cells (KCs) of the mushroom bodies and lateral horn neurons (LHNs). To examine the odor information content in different structures of the insect brain, antennal lobe, mushroom bodies and lateral horn, we designed a model of the olfactory network based on electrophysiological recordings made in vivo in the locust. We found that populations of all types (PNs, LHNs, and KCs) had lower odor classification error rates than individual cells of any given type. This improvement was quantitatively different from that observed using uniform populations of identical neurons compared with spatially structured population of neurons tuned to different odor features. This result, therefore, reflects an emergent network property. Odor classification improved with increasing stimulus duration: for similar odorants, KC and LHN ensembles reached optimal discrimination within the first 300–500 ms of the odor response. Performance improvement with time was much greater for a population of cells than for individual neurons. We conclude that, for PNs, LHNs, and KCs, ensemble responses are always much more informative than single-cell responses, despite the accumulation of noise along with odor information.

scholarly journals A decentralised neural model explaining optimal integration of navigational strategies in insects

eLife ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuelong Sun ◽  
Shigang Yue ◽  
Michael Mangan
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cues ◽  
Neural Model ◽  
Central Complex ◽  
Mushroom Bodies ◽  
Insect Brain ◽  
Neural Pathways ◽  
Neural Recordings ◽  
Insect Navigation ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Adaptive Behaviours

Insect navigation arises from the coordinated action of concurrent guidance systems but the neural mechanisms through which each functions, and are then coordinated, remains unknown. We propose that insects require distinct strategies to retrace familiar routes (route-following) and directly return from novel to familiar terrain (homing) using different aspects of frequency encoded views that are processed in different neural pathways. We also demonstrate how the Central Complex and Mushroom Bodies regions of the insect brain may work in tandem to coordinate the directional output of different guidance cues through a contextually switched ring-attractor inspired by neural recordings. The resultant unified model of insect navigation reproduces behavioural data from a series of cue conflict experiments in realistic animal environments and offers testable hypotheses of where and how insects process visual cues, utilise the different information that they provide and coordinate their outputs to achieve the adaptive behaviours observed in the wild.

scholarly journals A Decentralised Neural Model Explaining Optimal Integration of Navigational Strategies in Insects

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuelong Sun ◽  
Shigang Yue ◽  
Michael Mangan
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cues ◽  
Neural Model ◽  
Central Complex ◽  
Mushroom Bodies ◽  
Insect Brain ◽  
Neural Pathways ◽  
Neural Recordings ◽  
Insect Navigation ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Adaptive Behaviours

AbstractInsect navigation arises from the coordinated action of concurrent guidance systems but the neural mechanisms through which each functions, and are then coordinated, remains unknown. We propose that insects require distinct strategies to retrace familiar routes (route-following) and directly return from novel to familiar terrain (homing) using different aspects of frequency encoded views that are processed in different neural pathways. We also demonstrate how the Central Complex and Mushroom Bodies regions of the insect brain may work in tandem to coordinate the directional output of different guidance cues through a contextually switched ring-attractor inspired by neural recordings. The resultant unified model of insect navigation reproduces behavioural data from a series of cue conflict experiments in realistic animal environments and offers testable hypotheses of where and how insects process visual cues, utilise the different information that they provide and coordinate their outputs to achieve the adaptive behaviours observed in the wild.

scholarly journals Heterogeneous expression of GABA receptor‐like subunits LCCH3 and GRD reveals functional diversity of GABA receptors in the honeybee Apis mellifera

2020 ◽  
Vol 177 (17) ◽  
pp. 3924-3940
Author(s):  
Christopher Henry ◽  
Thierry Cens ◽  
Pierre Charnet ◽  
Catherine Cohen‐Solal ◽  
Claude Collet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Gaba Receptors ◽  
Gaba Receptor ◽  
Heterogeneous Expression

scholarly journals Striatal Neurodegeneration that Mimics Huntington’s Disease Modifies GABA-induced Currents

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 217
Author(s):  
Jorge Flores-Hernández ◽  
Jeanette Garzón-Vázquez ◽  
Gustavo Hernández-Carballo ◽  
Elizabeth Nieto-Mendoza ◽  
Evelyn Ruíz-Luna ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Huntington's Disease ◽  
Huntington’S Disease ◽  
Gaba Receptors ◽  
Gaba Receptor ◽  
Receptor Subtype ◽  
Medium Spiny Neurons ◽  
Nitropropionic Acid ◽  
Spiny Neurons ◽  
Excitotoxic Damage ◽  
Induced Currents

Huntington’s Disease (HD) is a degenerative disease which produces cognitive and motor disturbances. Treatment with GABAergic agonists improves the behavior and activity of mitochondrial complexes in rodents treated with 3-nitropropionic acid to mimic HD symptomatology. Apparently, GABA receptors activity may protect striatal medium spiny neurons (MSNs) from excitotoxic damage. This study evaluates whether mitochondrial inhibition with 3-NP that mimics the early stages of HD, modifies the kinetics and pharmacology of GABA receptors in patch clamp recorded dissociated MSNs cells. The results show that MSNs from mice treated with 3-NP exhibited differences in GABA-induced dose-response currents and pharmacological responses that suggests the presence of GABAC receptors in MSNs. Furthermore, there was a reduction in the effect of the GABAC antagonist that demonstrates a lessening of this GABA receptor subtype activity as a result of mitochondria inhibition.

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