Sensory preconditioning and perceptual learning in honey bees Apis mellifera

OSPITAL PAULA; LOCATELLI FERNANDO

Cordoba

Congreso; XXXIV Reunión Anual SAN 2019; 2019

The ability to learn and recognize an object is a fundamental ability ofthe nervous system. Animals must be able to learn which elements of the sensoryinput belong together and constitute an object. To address this in honey beeswe use an olfactory preconditioning protocol which involves three phases. Thefirst one is the stimulation with a binary odor mixture. In the second one, oneof the components of the mixture is reinforced according to a Pavlovianconditioning protocol. Finally, we test if the component that was part of themixture but was not used during the conditioning phase elicits the learnedresponse. The ability of the non-rewarded odor to elicit the conditionedresponse serves as evidence that both odors have been associated during thefirst phase. In the present study we address if, as for classical appetitivelearning, a single exposure event induces a short-term memory of the binarymixture as an object, and if multiple exposure trials endow a long-term memoryof the object. Results obtained so far indicate a weak effect of sensorypreconditioning in the short-term and no long-term memory. A possibleinterpretation is that the binary mixture elicits the perception of a stimulusthat is too different from the components and thus, no generalization betweencomponents and mixture is possible. We are testing now if shortly desynchronizingthe odors during stimulation with the mixture, improves segregation of thecomponents and thus sensory-preconditioning.