QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

HOME  |   SEARCH  |   ARCHIVE  |   SUBSCRIBE  |   CONTACT  |   HELP

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (60) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Farris, S. M. Articles by Fahrbach, S. E. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Farris, S. M. Articles by Fahrbach, S. E. Pubmed/NCBI databases Medline Plus Health Information Seniors' Health

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

The Journal of Neuroscience, August 15, 2001, 21(16):6395-6404

Experience- and Age-Related Outgrowth of Intrinsic Neurons in the Mushroom Bodies of the Adult Worker Honeybee

Sarah M. Farris¹, Gene E. Robinson^{1, 2}, and Susan E. Fahrbach^{1, 2}

¹ Department of Entomology and the ² Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801

A worker honeybee performs tasks within the hive for approximately the first 3 weeks of adult life. After this time, it becomes a forager, flying repeatedly to collect food outside of the hive for the remainder of its 5-6 week life. Previous studies have shown that foragers have an increased volume of neuropil associated with the mushroom bodies, a brain region involved in learning, memory, and sensory integration. We report here that growth of the mushroom body neuropil in adult bees occurs throughout adult life and continues after bees begin to forage. Studies using Golgi impregnation asked whether the growth of the collar region of the mushroom body neuropil was a result of growth of the dendritic processes of the mushroom body intrinsic neurons, the Kenyon cells. Branching and length of dendrites in the collar region of the calyces were strongly correlated with worker age, but when age-matched bees were directly compared, those with foraging experience had longer, more branched dendrites than bees that had foraged less or not at all. The density of Kenyon cell dendritic spines remained constant regardless of age or behavioral state. Older and more experienced foragers therefore have a greater total number of dendritic spines in the mushroom body neuropil. Our findings indicate that, under natural conditions, the cytoarchitectural complexity of neurons in the mushroom bodies of adult honeybees increases as a function of increasing age, but that foraging experience promotes additional dendritic branching and growth.

Key words: Apis mellifera; dendritic branching; foraging; Golgi impregnation; Kenyon cells; spine density

---

Copyright © 2001 Society for Neuroscience  0270-6474/01/21166395-10$05.00/0

Home  |   Search  |   Archive  |   Subscribe  |   Contact  |   Help