title: Olfactory conditioning of the sting extension reflex in honeybees: Memory dependence on trial number, interstimulus interval, intertrial interval, and protein synthesis.
abstract: Harnessed bees learn to associate an odorant with an electric shock so that afterward the odorant alone elicits the sting extension response (SER). We studied the dependency of retention on interstimulus interval (ISI), intertrial interval (ITI), and number of conditioning trials in the framework of olfactory SER conditioning. Forward ISIs (conditioned stimulus [CS] before unconditioned stimulus [US]) supported higher retention than a backward one (US before CS) with an optimum around 3 sec. Spaced trials (ITI 10 min) supported higher retention than massed trials (ITI 1 min) and led to the formation of a late long-term memory (l-LTM) that depended on protein synthesis. Our results reaffirm olfactory SER conditioning as a reliable tool for the study of learning and memory.
authors.affiliation: Université de Toulouse, UPS, Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, F-31062 Toulouse Cedex 9, France. giurfa@cict.fr
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Giurfa
authors.forename: Eve
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fabre
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Flaven-Pouchon
authors.forename: Helga
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Groll
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Oberwallner
authors.forename: Vanina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vergoz
authors.forename: Edith
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Roussel
authors.forename: Jean Christophe
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Sandoz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000841:Anisomycin / Q000494:pharmacology; D001516:Bees / Q000502:physiology*; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003214:Conditioning, Classical / Q000502:physiology; D003609:Dactinomycin / Q000494:pharmacology; D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000502:physiology; D004558:Electric Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D009812:Odorants; D009833:Olfactory Pathways / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D011500:Protein Synthesis Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D012018:Reflex / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D012153:Retention, Psychology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D011500:Protein Synthesis Inhibitors; D003609:Dactinomycin; D000841:Anisomycin