Early associative learning enhances long-term memory retention in a social insect

ARENAS, ANDRÉS; FERNÁNDEZ, VANESA; FARINA, WALTER M

Rennes, Francia

Congreso; XXXI International Ethological Conference; 2009

Early stimulation leads to lifelong capacity to remember in mammals. This issue was poorly studied in arthropods and some insects such as the honeybee represent an ideal model to address the effect of specific sensory stimuli during young adulthood on later behavior. To test the role of prior odor experiences to enhance memory retention at a later learning, groups of bees had been olfactory conditioned at 5-8 or 9-12 days and tested at 17 days of age were exposed to different experiments. At an early time, these conditioned subjects were exposed to (i) no particular odor stimulation, (ii) to a second rewarded odor (non-tested odor) or (iii) to a pure volatile. We found higher resistance to extinction when 9/12-day-old conditioned bees had been also conditioned to a second rewarded odor at 1-4 or 5-8 days in comparison with subjects only conditioned at 9-12 days. Moreover, only certain passive volatile exposed at 5-8 days present similarities with a situation in which a prior rewarded odor was offered. Thus, early appetitive experiences occurring during the young insect adulthood prevent deficits in later memory retention.