title: Olfactory learning and memory in the honeybee: comparison of different classical conditioning procedures of the proboscis extension response.
abstract: Olfactory learning in the honeybee was investigated using the conditioned proboscis extension reflex on restrained individuals. We compared, under the same experimental conditions, the most commonly used conditioning procedures, i.e. 1 trial, 3 massed trials (1 min inter-trial intervals), and 3 spaced trials (10 min inter-trial intervals) procedures, using linalool as the conditioned stimulus. Two experiments were performed in which worker bees were subjected to: (1) a single test at different times (30 s to 14 days) after the conditioning procedure; (2) a first test within 3 h after the conditioning procedure, and were then retested daily (up to 5 tests). The memory trace of a learnt odorant stimulus could last for the lifetime of the bee, even after a single association with sugar. Repeated tests with 1 day inter-test duration induced a strong decrease of the response level, this effect being more pronounced after a 1-trial conditioning.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de neurobiologie comparée des invertébrés, INRA-CNRS, URA 1190, Bures-sur-Yvette, France.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Sandoz
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Roger
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Pham-Delègue
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees; D003214:Conditioning, Classical; D007858:Learning; D008568:Memory; D012903:Smell; D013997:Time Factors