Multisensory convergence and mushroom body control pathways in bumblebees

蜜蜂和其他社会性昆虫表现出非常复杂的行为，包括学习颜色，气味和地标，导航和通信。昆虫大脑的一个特定组成部分，蘑菇体，已知与学习和记忆有关，并控制复杂的行为。蘑菇体在蜜蜂中特别大和精致。该项目的目的是确定蘑菇体如何处理感觉输入，如颜色，运动，气味等，这些信息分布到蘑菇体的不同层。每一层都代表蜜蜂感知世界的一个特定方面吗？神经细胞结合联合收割机特定的刺激组合与学习或导航相关吗？脑电刺激能改变神经细胞处理感觉信息的方式吗？当蜜蜂在视频屏幕上观看相关刺激时，将记录单个神经细胞的电信号和反应。然后，神经细胞将被注射示踪剂，大脑中细胞的结构和分支模式将被三维重建，并与其反应特性进行比较。这项研究将有助于了解参与学习，记忆和认知的神经细胞的感觉处理的一般机制。该项目利用了一个相对简单的神经系统，比脊椎动物更容易通过实验接近，但通过进化关系，蜜蜂大脑中的单个神经细胞与人脑中的神经细胞执行相同的操作。该项目将帮助少数民族大学生和社区学院的学生参与科学研究，并将在生物学和计算机科学（人工智能）相关的技术和方法方面培训研究生。

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).