Differential conditioning and long-term olfactory memory in individual Camponotus fellah ants

Individual Camponotus fellah ants perceive and learn odours in a Y-maze in which one odour is paired with sugar (CS+) while a different odour (CS-) is paired with quinine (differential conditioning). We studied olfactory retention in C. fellah to determine whether olfactory learning leads to long-te...

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Autores principales: Josens, R., Eschbach, C., Giurfa, M.
Formato: JOUR
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Ant
ant
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_00220949_v212_n12_p1904_Josens
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spelling todo:paper_00220949_v212_n12_p1904_Josens2023-10-03T14:26:04Z Differential conditioning and long-term olfactory memory in individual Camponotus fellah ants Josens, R. Eschbach, C. Giurfa, M. Ant Camponotus fellah Conditioning Learning Long-term memory Olfaction animal ant article association conditioned reflex memory odor physiology Animals Ants Conditioning, Classical Cues Memory Smell Camponotus fellah Formicidae Individual Camponotus fellah ants perceive and learn odours in a Y-maze in which one odour is paired with sugar (CS+) while a different odour (CS-) is paired with quinine (differential conditioning). We studied olfactory retention in C. fellah to determine whether olfactory learning leads to long-term memory retrievable 24h and 72 h after training. One and 3days after training, ants exhibited robust olfactory memory through a series of five successive retention tests in which they preferred the CS+ and stayed longer in the arm presenting it. In order to determine the nature of the associations memorized, we asked whether choices within the Y-maze were driven by excitatory memory based on choosing the CS+ and/or inhibitory memory based on avoiding the CS-. By confronting ants with a novel odour vs either the CS+ or the CS- we found that learning led to the formation of excitatory memory driving the choice of the CS+ but no inhibitory memory based on the CS- was apparent. Ants even preferred the CS- to the novel odour, thus suggesting that they used the CS- as a contextual cue in which the CS+ was embedded, or as a second-order cue predicting the CS+ and thus the sugar reward. Our results constitute the first controlled account of olfactory long-term memory in individual ants for which the nature of associations could be precisely characterized. Fil:Josens, R. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. Fil:Giurfa, M. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. JOUR info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ar http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_00220949_v212_n12_p1904_Josens
institution Universidad de Buenos Aires
institution_str I-28
repository_str R-134
collection Biblioteca Digital - Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (UBA)
topic Ant
Camponotus fellah
Conditioning
Learning
Long-term memory
Olfaction
animal
ant
article
association
conditioned reflex
memory
odor
physiology
Animals
Ants
Conditioning, Classical
Cues
Memory
Smell
Camponotus fellah
Formicidae
spellingShingle Ant
Camponotus fellah
Conditioning
Learning
Long-term memory
Olfaction
animal
ant
article
association
conditioned reflex
memory
odor
physiology
Animals
Ants
Conditioning, Classical
Cues
Memory
Smell
Camponotus fellah
Formicidae
Josens, R.
Eschbach, C.
Giurfa, M.
Differential conditioning and long-term olfactory memory in individual Camponotus fellah ants
topic_facet Ant
Camponotus fellah
Conditioning
Learning
Long-term memory
Olfaction
animal
ant
article
association
conditioned reflex
memory
odor
physiology
Animals
Ants
Conditioning, Classical
Cues
Memory
Smell
Camponotus fellah
Formicidae
description Individual Camponotus fellah ants perceive and learn odours in a Y-maze in which one odour is paired with sugar (CS+) while a different odour (CS-) is paired with quinine (differential conditioning). We studied olfactory retention in C. fellah to determine whether olfactory learning leads to long-term memory retrievable 24h and 72 h after training. One and 3days after training, ants exhibited robust olfactory memory through a series of five successive retention tests in which they preferred the CS+ and stayed longer in the arm presenting it. In order to determine the nature of the associations memorized, we asked whether choices within the Y-maze were driven by excitatory memory based on choosing the CS+ and/or inhibitory memory based on avoiding the CS-. By confronting ants with a novel odour vs either the CS+ or the CS- we found that learning led to the formation of excitatory memory driving the choice of the CS+ but no inhibitory memory based on the CS- was apparent. Ants even preferred the CS- to the novel odour, thus suggesting that they used the CS- as a contextual cue in which the CS+ was embedded, or as a second-order cue predicting the CS+ and thus the sugar reward. Our results constitute the first controlled account of olfactory long-term memory in individual ants for which the nature of associations could be precisely characterized.
format JOUR
author Josens, R.
Eschbach, C.
Giurfa, M.
author_facet Josens, R.
Eschbach, C.
Giurfa, M.
author_sort Josens, R.
title Differential conditioning and long-term olfactory memory in individual Camponotus fellah ants
title_short Differential conditioning and long-term olfactory memory in individual Camponotus fellah ants
title_full Differential conditioning and long-term olfactory memory in individual Camponotus fellah ants
title_fullStr Differential conditioning and long-term olfactory memory in individual Camponotus fellah ants
title_full_unstemmed Differential conditioning and long-term olfactory memory in individual Camponotus fellah ants
title_sort differential conditioning and long-term olfactory memory in individual camponotus fellah ants
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_00220949_v212_n12_p1904_Josens
work_keys_str_mv AT josensr differentialconditioningandlongtermolfactorymemoryinindividualcamponotusfellahants
AT eschbachc differentialconditioningandlongtermolfactorymemoryinindividualcamponotusfellahants
AT giurfam differentialconditioningandlongtermolfactorymemoryinindividualcamponotusfellahants
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