Organization of Behavioral Plasticity by Neurochemicals

神经化学行为可塑性的组织首席研究员吉恩·E·罗宾逊许多动物在成长过程中表现出深刻的行为变化，这些变化是基于大脑结构和功能的成熟变化。与其他形式的行为可塑性一样，行为成熟涉及行为的许多不同方面的协调变化，并伴随着神经化学的广泛变化。此前美国国家科学基金会的资助发现，章鱼胺会影响蜜蜂的行为成熟，特别是蜜蜂从在蜂箱中工作转向觅食的年龄。章鱼胺是一种生物胺，是一种重要的神经化学物质，可以调节许多生物、脊椎动物和无脊椎动物的行为，包括人类。这项提议试图使用章鱼胺来精确地探索需要影响哪些行为机制来协调复杂的行为成熟。研究将确定章鱼胺是否会增加对特定环境刺激的反应，从而使以觅食为职业的蜜蜂继续从事这一职业，因为它对某些刺激的反应方式。将被测试的其他可能性是确定章鱼胺是否通过增加整体活动或改善对成功觅食至关重要的认知能力来促进觅食行为。这项研究将包括对单个蜜蜂大脑中生物胺的详细测量，生物胺的治疗，以及定量行为分析。蜜蜂已成为神经生物学、行为遗传学等领域研究的重要模式系统。这项研究将为包括人类在内的许多社会动物经历的复杂行为变化的神经化学基础提供有用的见解，并展示大脑化学物质如何影响认知要求高的任务的发展。

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.