Sucrose responsiveness, learning success, and task specialization in ants

Perez, Margot; Rolland, Uther; Giurfa, Martín; d’Ettorre, Patrizia

doi:10.1101/lm.031427.113

Cited by 39 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 24 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Finally, our results corroborate previous studies showing that ants learn efficiently when subjected to differential conditioning of the MaLER Perez et al, 2013), thus allowing a fine-tuned investigation of their discrimination ability between two odor stimuli, one appetitive (sucrose) and the other aversive (quinine, for a discussion about the aversive valence of quinine for ants, see Guerrieri and d'Ettorre, 2010). We also confirmed that C. aethiops ants retained the associations between CSs and USs for at least 1 h .…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…The binary response (MaLER: YES/NO) is simple and unambiguous and ants show excellent learning performances Guerrieri et al, 2011;Bos et al, 2013;Perez et al, 2013Perez et al, , 2015. Here, we used the MaLER paradigm to test whether ants were able to discriminate between different concentrations of the same hydrocarbon (linear and branched alkanes) in a differential conditioning paradigm.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Ants Discriminate Between Different Hydrocarbon Concentrations

et al. 2015

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Social insects typically discriminate nestmates from non-nestmates using colony-specific blends of cuticular hydrocarbons, which may be considered as a chemical label. Within a species, the cuticular profile shows approximately the same qualitative set of compounds, although these differ quantitatively among colonies. Thus, the relative proportions of particular hydrocarbons may be higher in individuals of one colony compared to those of another (conspecific) colony. Social insects must perceive these differences in ratios in order to efficiently recognize non-nestmates. However, little is known about the underlying perceptual mechanisms. Here we investigated whether ants can discriminate between different doses of individual linear or methyl-branched hydrocarbons. We used the ant Camponotus aethiops as our study organism and differential conditioning of the maxilla-labium extension response as the experimental procedure, to test olfactory discrimination between two concentrations of the same compound (one rewarded and the other punished), using large (wide range, 1:100) and small differences (narrow range, 1:10) in hydrocarbon concentrations. Ants discriminated well between wide-range concentrations of the same compound, but showed asymmetric generalization between narrow-range concentrations. These results indicate that a certain differential in hydrocarbon concentration is essential for efficient discrimination.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ants Discriminate Between Different Hydrocarbon Concentrations

et al. 2015

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For instance, a higher number of patrilines is beneficial for thermal regulation, as bees from different patrilines engage in fanning activity at different deviations from the optimal temperature, thereby providing a gradual and more efficient response to outside temperature changes [13]. In a social insect colony, the different patrilines are not equally involved in the different tasks [60]–[62] and workers performing different tasks show different associative learning abilities (appetitive modality: [63]–[64]; aversive modality: [30]). It will now be important to compare appetitive and aversive learning abilities in different patrilines and to relate these differences with the tasks these individuals actually carry out in the hive.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genotypic Influence on Aversive Conditioning in Honeybees, Using a Novel Thermal Reinforcement Procedure

Junca¹,

Carcaud²,

Moulin³

et al. 2014

PLoS ONE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In Pavlovian conditioning, animals learn to associate initially neutral stimuli with positive or negative outcomes, leading to appetitive and aversive learning respectively. The honeybee (Apis mellifera) is a prominent invertebrate model for studying both versions of olfactory learning and for unraveling the influence of genotype. As a queen bee mates with about 15 males, her worker offspring belong to as many, genetically-different patrilines. While the genetic dependency of appetitive learning is well established in bees, it is not the case for aversive learning, as a robust protocol was only developed recently. In the original conditioning of the sting extension response (SER), bees learn to associate an odor (conditioned stimulus - CS) with an electric shock (unconditioned stimulus - US). This US is however not a natural stimulus for bees, which may represent a potential caveat for dissecting the genetics underlying aversive learning. We thus first tested heat as a potential new US for SER conditioning. We show that thermal stimulation of several sensory structures on the bee’s body triggers the SER, in a temperature-dependent manner. Moreover, heat applied to the antennae, mouthparts or legs is an efficient US for SER conditioning. Then, using microsatellite analysis, we analyzed heat sensitivity and aversive learning performances in ten worker patrilines issued from a naturally inseminated queen. We demonstrate a strong influence of genotype on aversive learning, possibly indicating the existence of a genetic determinism of this capacity. Such determinism could be instrumental for efficient task partitioning within the hive.

show abstract

“…Medium-sized foragers were collected and anaesthetized on ice for harnessing in individual holders as previously described [14,35]. Fixed ants could only move their antennae and mouthparts.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Controlled olfactory conditioning protocols have been established for ants, which allow training them under absolute or differential conditioning, i.e. with a single stimulus rewarded (the conditioned stimulus, CS+), or with one stimulus rewarded (CS+) and another stimulus non-rewarded or punished (CS−) [27–30,33–35]. Both protocols have been used to investigate olfactory learning and generalization in ants, but no comparative study has been undertaken to determine the specific influence of experimental procedures on these abilities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Olfactory experience shapes the evaluation of odour similarity in ants: a behavioural and computational analysis

et al. 2016

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Perceptual similarity between stimuli is often assessed via generalization, the response to stimuli that are similar to the one which was previously conditioned. Although conditioning procedures are variable, studies on how this variation may affect perceptual similarity remain scarce. Here, we use a combination of behavioural and computational analyses to investigate the influence of olfactory conditioning procedures on odour generalization in ants. Insects were trained following either absolute conditioning, in which a single odour (an aldehyde) was rewarded with sucrose, or differential conditioning, in which one odour (the same aldehyde) was similarly rewarded and another odour (an aldehyde differing in carbon-chain length) was punished with quinine. The response to the trained odours and generalization to other aldehydes were assessed. We show that olfactory similarity, rather than being immutable, varies with the conditioning procedure. Compared with absolute conditioning, differential conditioning enhances olfactory discrimination. This improvement is best described by a multiplicative interaction between two independent processes, the excitatory and inhibitory generalization gradients induced by the rewarded and the punished odour, respectively. We show that olfactory similarity is dramatically shaped by an individual's perceptual experience and suggest a new hypothesis for the nature of stimulus interactions underlying experience-dependent changes in perceptual similarity.

show abstract

Sucrose responsiveness, learning success, and task specialization in ants

Cited by 39 publications

References 24 publications

Ants Discriminate Between Different Hydrocarbon Concentrations

Ants Discriminate Between Different Hydrocarbon Concentrations

Genotypic Influence on Aversive Conditioning in Honeybees, Using a Novel Thermal Reinforcement Procedure

Olfactory experience shapes the evaluation of odour similarity in ants: a behavioural and computational analysis

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About