Learning spatial aversion is sensory-specific in the hematophagous insect Rhodnius prolixus

Even though innate behaviors are essential for assuring quick responses to expected stimuli, experience-dependent behavioral plasticity confers an advantage when unexpected conditions arise. As being rigidly responsive to too many stimuli can be biologically expensive, adapting preferences to time-d...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado: 2018
Materias:
Aversive
Insects
Learning
Operant
Sensory modalities
Triatomines
Acceso en línea:https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_16641078_v9_nJUL_p_Minoli
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_16641078_v9_nJUL_p_Minoli
Aporte de:
Biblioteca Digital - Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (UBA) de Universidad de Buenos Aires
id paper:paper_16641078_v9_nJUL_p_Minoli
record_format dspace
spelling paper:paper_16641078_v9_nJUL_p_Minoli2023-06-08T16:26:00Z Learning spatial aversion is sensory-specific in the hematophagous insect Rhodnius prolixus Aversive Insects Learning Operant Sensory modalities Triatomines Even though innate behaviors are essential for assuring quick responses to expected stimuli, experience-dependent behavioral plasticity confers an advantage when unexpected conditions arise. As being rigidly responsive to too many stimuli can be biologically expensive, adapting preferences to time-dependent relevant environmental conditions provide a cheaper and wider behavioral reactivity. According to their specific life habits, animals prioritize different sensory modalities to maximize environment exploitation. Besides, when mediating learning processes, the salience of a stimulus usually plays a relevant role in determining the intensity of an association. Then, sensory prioritization might reflect an heterogeneity in the cognitive abilities of an individual. Here, we analyze in the kissing bug Rhodnius prolixus if stimuli from different sensory modalities generate different cognitive capacities under an operant aversive paradigm. In a 2-choice walking arena, by registering the spatial distribution of insects over an experimental arena, we evaluated firstly the innate responses of bugs confronted to mechanical (rough substrate), visual (green light), thermal (32°C heated plate), hygric (humidified substrate), gustatory (sodium chloride), and olfactory (isobutyric acid) stimuli. In further experimental series bugs were submitted to an aversive operant conditioning by pairing each stimulus with a negative reinforcement. Subsequent tests allowed us to analyze if the innate behaviors were modulated by such previous aversive experience. In our experimental setup mechanical and visual stimuli were neutral, the thermal cue was attractive, and the hygric, gustatory and olfactory ones were innately aversive. After the aversive conditioning, responses to the mechanical, the visual, the hygric and the gustatory stimuli were modulated while responses to the thermal and the olfactory stimuli remained rigid. We present evidences that the spatial learning capacities of R. prolixus are dependent on the sensory modality of the conditioned stimulus, regardless their innate valence (i.e., neutral, attractive, or aversive). These differences might be given by the biological relevance of the stimuli and/or by evolutionary aspects of the life traits of this hematophagous insect. © 2018 Minoli, Cano, Pontes, Magallanes, Roldán and Barrozo. 2018 https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_16641078_v9_nJUL_p_Minoli http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_16641078_v9_nJUL_p_Minoli
institution Universidad de Buenos Aires
institution_str I-28
repository_str R-134
collection Biblioteca Digital - Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (UBA)
topic Aversive
Insects
Learning
Operant
Sensory modalities
Triatomines
spellingShingle Aversive
Insects
Learning
Operant
Sensory modalities
Triatomines
Learning spatial aversion is sensory-specific in the hematophagous insect Rhodnius prolixus
topic_facet Aversive
Insects
Learning
Operant
Sensory modalities
Triatomines
description Even though innate behaviors are essential for assuring quick responses to expected stimuli, experience-dependent behavioral plasticity confers an advantage when unexpected conditions arise. As being rigidly responsive to too many stimuli can be biologically expensive, adapting preferences to time-dependent relevant environmental conditions provide a cheaper and wider behavioral reactivity. According to their specific life habits, animals prioritize different sensory modalities to maximize environment exploitation. Besides, when mediating learning processes, the salience of a stimulus usually plays a relevant role in determining the intensity of an association. Then, sensory prioritization might reflect an heterogeneity in the cognitive abilities of an individual. Here, we analyze in the kissing bug Rhodnius prolixus if stimuli from different sensory modalities generate different cognitive capacities under an operant aversive paradigm. In a 2-choice walking arena, by registering the spatial distribution of insects over an experimental arena, we evaluated firstly the innate responses of bugs confronted to mechanical (rough substrate), visual (green light), thermal (32°C heated plate), hygric (humidified substrate), gustatory (sodium chloride), and olfactory (isobutyric acid) stimuli. In further experimental series bugs were submitted to an aversive operant conditioning by pairing each stimulus with a negative reinforcement. Subsequent tests allowed us to analyze if the innate behaviors were modulated by such previous aversive experience. In our experimental setup mechanical and visual stimuli were neutral, the thermal cue was attractive, and the hygric, gustatory and olfactory ones were innately aversive. After the aversive conditioning, responses to the mechanical, the visual, the hygric and the gustatory stimuli were modulated while responses to the thermal and the olfactory stimuli remained rigid. We present evidences that the spatial learning capacities of R. prolixus are dependent on the sensory modality of the conditioned stimulus, regardless their innate valence (i.e., neutral, attractive, or aversive). These differences might be given by the biological relevance of the stimuli and/or by evolutionary aspects of the life traits of this hematophagous insect. © 2018 Minoli, Cano, Pontes, Magallanes, Roldán and Barrozo.
title Learning spatial aversion is sensory-specific in the hematophagous insect Rhodnius prolixus
title_short Learning spatial aversion is sensory-specific in the hematophagous insect Rhodnius prolixus
title_full Learning spatial aversion is sensory-specific in the hematophagous insect Rhodnius prolixus
title_fullStr Learning spatial aversion is sensory-specific in the hematophagous insect Rhodnius prolixus
title_full_unstemmed Learning spatial aversion is sensory-specific in the hematophagous insect Rhodnius prolixus
title_sort learning spatial aversion is sensory-specific in the hematophagous insect rhodnius prolixus
publishDate 2018
url https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_16641078_v9_nJUL_p_Minoli
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_16641078_v9_nJUL_p_Minoli
_version_ 1768544057445842944

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