Multisensory convergence and mushroom body control pathways in bumblebees

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Bees and other social insects show very complex behaviors that include learning of color, odors and landmarks, navigation and communication. A certain component of the insect's brain, the mushroom body, is known to be involved in learning and memory and to control complex behavior. The mushroom body is particularly large and elaborate in bees. The aim of the project is to determine how the mushroom body processes sensory input such as color, movement, odor, etc. This information is distributed to different layers of the mushroom body. Does each layer represent a particular aspect of the world the bee perceives? Do nerve cells combine specific stimulus combinations relevant for learning or navigation? Can electrical brain stimulation change how the nerve cells process sensory information? The electrical signals and responses of individual nerve cells will be recorded while the bee watches relevant stimuli on a video screen. Afterwards, the nerve cells will be injected with a tracer and the cell's structure and branching pattern in the brain will be three-dimensionally reconstructed and compared to its response properties. This study will help to understand general mechanisms of sensory processing by nerve cells that are involved in learning, memory and cognition. The project makes use of a relatively simple nervous system that is much easier to approach experimentally than vertebrate animals, yet through evolutionary relationship individual nerve cells in the bee brain perform the same operations as nerve cells in the human brain. The project will help minority undergaduate students and students from community colleges to get involved in scientific research and will train graduate students in techniques and approaches relevant in biology and computer science (artificial intelligence).