title: Unexpected rewards induce dopamine-dependent positive emotion-like state changes in bumblebees.
abstract: Whether invertebrates exhibit positive emotion-like states and what mechanisms underlie such states remain poorly understood. We demonstrate that bumblebees exhibit dopamine-dependent positive emotion-like states across behavioral contexts. After training with one rewarding and one unrewarding cue, bees that received pretest sucrose responded in a positive manner toward ambiguous cues. In a second experiment, pretest consumption of sucrose solution resulted in a shorter time to reinitiate foraging after a simulated predator attack. These behavioral changes were abolished with topical application of the dopamine antagonist fluphenazine. Further experiments established that pretest sucrose does not simply cause bees to become more exploratory. Our findings present a new opportunity for understanding the fundamental neural elements of emotions and may alter the view of how emotion states affect decision-making in animals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS, UK. clint.perry@qmul.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Cwyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Solvi
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS, UK.
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Baciadonna
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS, UK.
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chittka
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D003463:Cues; D003657:Decision Making / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D004298:Dopamine / Q000502:physiology*; D018492:Dopamine Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D005476:Fluphenazine / Q000494:pharmacology; D006240:Happiness; D012201:Reward; D013395:Sucrose
chemical_list: D018492:Dopamine Antagonists; D013395:Sucrose; D005476:Fluphenazine; D004298:Dopamine