Lateralization of short- and long-term visual memories in an insect.
Proc Biol Sci
; 287(1926): 20200677, 2020 05 13.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32370678
ABSTRACT
The formation of memories within the vertebrate brain is lateralized between hemispheres across multiple modalities. However, in invertebrates evidence for lateralization is restricted to olfactory memories, primarily from social bees. Here, we use a classical conditioning paradigm with a visual conditioned stimulus to show that visual memories are lateralized in the wood ant, Formica rufa. We show that a brief contact between a sugar reward and either the right or left antenna (reinforcement) is sufficient to produce a lateralized memory, even though the visual cue is visible to both eyes throughout training and testing. Reinforcement given to the right antenna induced short-term memories, whereas reinforcement given to the left antenna induced long-term memories. Thus, short- and long-term visual memories are lateralized in wood ants. This extends the modalities across which memories are lateralized in insects and suggests that such memory lateralization may have evolved multiple times, possibly linked to the evolution of eusociality in the Hymenoptera.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Insectos
Límite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Proc Biol Sci
Asunto de la revista:
BIOLOGIA
Año:
2020
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Reino Unido