title: Context odor presentation during sleep enhances memory in honeybees.
abstract: Sleep plays an important role in stabilizing new memory traces after learning [1-3]. Here we investigate whether sleep's role in memory processing is similar in evolutionarily distant species and demonstrate that a context trigger during deep-sleep phases improves memory in invertebrates, as it does in humans. We show that in honeybees (Apis mellifera), exposure to an odor during deep sleep that has been present during learning improves memory performance the following day. Presentation of the context odor during wake phases or novel odors during sleep does not enhance memory. In humans, memory consolidation can be triggered by presentation of a context odor during slow-wave sleep that had been present during learning [3-5]. Our results reveal that deep-sleep phases in honeybees have the potential to prompt memory consolidation, just as they do in humans. This study provides strong evidence for a conserved role of sleep-and how it affects memory processes-from insects to mammals.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neurobiology, Free University of Berlin, Königin-Luise-Straße 28-30, 14195 Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: hanna.zwaka@fu-berlin.de.
authors.forename: Hanna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zwaka
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neurobiology, Free University of Berlin, Königin-Luise-Straße 28-30, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bartels
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neurobiology, Free University of Berlin, Königin-Luise-Straße 28-30, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gora
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neurobiology, Free University of Berlin, Königin-Luise-Straße 28-30, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Vivien
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Franck
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neurobiology, Free University of Berlin, Königin-Luise-Straße 28-30, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Culo
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neurobiology, Free University of Berlin, Königin-Luise-Straße 28-30, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Moritz
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Götsch
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neurobiology, Free University of Berlin, Königin-Luise-Straße 28-30, 14195 Berlin, Germany; Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience (BCCN) Berlin, Philippstraße 12, 10115 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Randolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Menzel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D009812:Odorants; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology; D012894:Sleep Stages