This proposal will focus on using the honeybee (Apis mellifera) as a model animal species for understanding mechanisms of behavioral plasticity toward odors. These animals are faced with the same types of olfactory problems as mammals. They require the capability to detect and respond to a very large number of odors because they depend on locating many different types of flowers to harvest carbohydrate resources in nectars. Association of these odors with nectar changes many times within an individual's lifetime, which also requires that animals learn about these associations. Like mammals, insects exhibit a variety of means to learn about and encode memories for floral odors. Comparative evidence indicates that behavioral and systems-level neural processing similarities between insects and mammals have evolved independently. That suggests that there may only be one general neural solution available to encode information about odors. Therefore, as comparative models, insects can be critical for revealing how odors are learned and encoded in the CNS, and whether this mechanism is fundamental to olfactory processing.
The aims of this proposal are to evaluate mechanisms of neural plasticity that exist in the insect Antennal Lobes (AL), which are the neural analogs to the mammalian Olfactory Bulb (Hildebrand & Shepherd 1997). The central theme is that documented neural mechanisms and modulatory pathways in the AL that represent the presence (or absence) of reinforcement serve as a means to filter out unimportant, variable background odors. This allows biologically relevant, learned odors to be readily detected. There will be three aims. First, behavioral investigations will examine in detail mechanisms that underlie a learned inattention (CS preexposure effect) toward odors and blocking in odor-odor mixtures. In particular, manipulations of the conditioning context will reveal the extent to which specific theoretical treatments of CS preexposure can account for it in insects. Second, multichannel recording techniques will be employed to investigate whether and how these behavioral mechanisms may be implemented as a filtering mechanism in the AL. Third, pharmacological and molecular manipulation by way of RNA interference will be used to examine how modulatory pathways represent reinforcement in the AL by regulating biogenic amine (serotonin and octopamine) release. ? ?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Center for Research Resources (NCRR)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01RR014166-15
Application #
7267027
Study Section
Neurobiology of Learning and Memory Study Section (LAM)
Program Officer
Chang, Michael
Project Start
1993-04-01
Project End
2009-07-31
Budget Start
2007-08-01
Budget End
2008-07-31
Support Year
15
Fiscal Year
2007
Total Cost
$354,382
Indirect Cost
Name
Arizona State University-Tempe Campus
Department
Other Basic Sciences
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
943360412
City
Tempe
State
AZ
Country
United States
Zip Code
85287
Smith, Brian H; Burden, Christina M (2014) A proboscis extension response protocol for investigating behavioral plasticity in insects: application to basic, biomedical, and agricultural research. J Vis Exp :e51057
Rein, Julia; Mustard, Julie A; Strauch, Martin et al. (2013) Octopamine modulates activity of neural networks in the honey bee antennal lobe. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 199:947-62
Locatelli, Fernando F; Fernandez, Patricia C; Villareal, Francis et al. (2013) Nonassociative plasticity alters competitive interactions among mixture components in early olfactory processing. Eur J Neurosci 37:63-79
Strube-Bloss, Martin F; Herrera-Valdez, Marco A; Smith, Brian H (2012) Ensemble response in mushroom body output neurons of the honey bee outpaces spatiotemporal odor processing two synapses earlier in the antennal lobe. PLoS One 7:e50322
Sinakevitch, Irina; Mustard, Julie A; Smith, Brian H (2011) Distribution of the octopamine receptor AmOA1 in the honey bee brain. PLoS One 6:e14536
Besson, M T; Sinakevitch, I; Melon, C et al. (2011) Involvement of the Drosophila taurine/aspartate transporter dEAAT2 in selective olfactory and gustatory perceptions. J Comp Neurol 519:2734-57
Mustard, Julie A; Pham, Priscilla M; Smith, Brian H (2010) Modulation of motor behavior by dopamine and the D1-like dopamine receptor AmDOP2 in the honey bee. J Insect Physiol 56:422-30
Wright, Geraldine A; Mustard, Julie A; Simcock, Nicola K et al. (2010) Parallel reinforcement pathways for conditioned food aversions in the honeybee. Curr Biol 20:2234-40
Chandra, Sathees B C; Wright, Geraldine A; Smith, Brian H (2010) Latent inhibition in the honey bee, Apis mellifera: Is it a unitary phenomenon? Anim Cogn 13:805-15
Fernandez, Patricia C; Locatelli, Fernando F; Person-Rennell, Nicole et al. (2009) Associative conditioning tunes transient dynamics of early olfactory processing. J Neurosci 29:10191-202

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