Organization of Behavioral Plasticity by Neurochemicals

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Organization of behavioral plasticity by neurochemicalsGene E. Robinson, Principal InvestigatorMany animals show profound changes in behavior as they grow up, and these changes are based on maturational changes in the structure and functioning of the brain. Like other forms of behavioral plasticity, behavioral maturation involves coordinated change in many different aspects of behavior and is accompanied by extensive changes in neurochemistry. Previous NSF funding led to the discovery that octopamine influences the behavioral maturation of the honey bee, specifically the age at which honey bees shift from working in the hive to foraging. Octopamine is a biogenic amine, which is a prominent class of neurochemicals that regulate behavior in many organisms, vertebrate and invertebrate, including humans. This proposal seeks to use octopamine to explore precisely which behavioral mechanisms need to be affected to orchestrate complex behavioral maturation. Research will determine whether octopamine acts to increase responsiveness towards specific environmental stimuli so that a bee with the occupation of foraging continues in that occupation because of the way that it reacts to certain stimuli. Other possibilities that will be tested is to determine whether octopamine promotes foraging behavior by increasing overall activity or improving the cognitive abilities that are essential for successful foraging. The research will involve detailed measurements of biogenic amines in the brains of individual bees, treatments of biogenic amines, and quantitative behavioral analyses. The honey bee has become an important model system for studies at the interface of neurobiology, behavior genetics. This research will provide useful insights into the neurochemical basis of complex behavioral changes experienced by many social animals, including man, and provide a demonstration of how brain chemicals influence the development of cognitively demanding tasks.