Maturation of odor representation in the honeybee antennal lobe

The antennal lobe (AL) is the first center for processing odors in the insect brain, as is the olfactory bulb (OB) in vertebrates. Both the AL and the OB have a characteristic glomerular structure; odors sensed by olfactory receptor neurons are represented by patterns of glomerular activity. Little...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of insect physiology 2005-11, Vol.51 (11), p.1244-1254
Main Authors: Wang, Shunpeng, Zhang, Shaowu, Sato, Katsushige, Srinivasan, Mandyam V.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
age
Aging - physiology
Analysis of Variance
Animals
Antennal lobe
Apidae
Apis mellifera
Bees - anatomy & histology
Bees - growth & development
Bees - physiology
Brain Chemistry
Calcium - analysis
calcium imaging
Clove Oil - pharmacology
Cyclohexenes
fluorescent labeling
glomerular response
image analysis
insect development
Monoterpenes - pharmacology
neural glomeruli
neurophysiology
odor compounds
odor processing
Odor representation
Odorants
odors
Olfactory Pathways - anatomy & histology
Olfactory Pathways - drug effects
Olfactory Pathways - physiology
Olfactory Receptor Neurons - drug effects
Olfactory Receptor Neurons - physiology
ontogeny
Optical imaging
smell
Smell - drug effects
Smell - physiology
Terpenes - pharmacology
worker honey bees
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Summary:The antennal lobe (AL) is the first center for processing odors in the insect brain, as is the olfactory bulb (OB) in vertebrates. Both the AL and the OB have a characteristic glomerular structure; odors sensed by olfactory receptor neurons are represented by patterns of glomerular activity. Little is known about when and how an odor begins to be perceived in a developing brain. We address this question by using calcium imaging to monitor odor-evoked neural activity in the ALs of bees of different ages. We find that odor-evoked neural activity already occurs in the ALs of bees as young as 1 or 2 days. In young bees, the responses to odors are relatively weak and restricted to a small number of glomeruli. However, different odors already evoke responses in different combinations of glomeruli. In mature bees, the responses are stronger and are evident in more glomeruli, but continue to have distinct odor-dependent signatures. Our findings indicate that the specific glomerular patterns for odors are conserved during the development, and that odor representations are fully developed in the AL during the first 2 weeks following emergence.
ISSN:0022-1910
1879-1611
DOI:10.1016/j.jinsphys.2005.07.003