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BY-NC-ND 3.0 license Open Access Published by De Gruyter June 2, 2014

Response Characteristics and Identification of Extrinsic Mushroom Body Neurons of the Bee

  • Uwe Homberg and Joachim Erber

Abstract

The activity of single neurons with constant discharge frequencies in the area around the α-lobe of the mushroom bodies of the bee was recorded intracellularly. The spontaneous discharge frequency of these neurons ranged between 5 and 95 impulses per second. When stimulated, about 80 percent of the neurons responded to at least one of five different sensory modalities: scent; light; air current to the antennae; sugar water applied to the antennae and to the proboscis. 45 percent of the neurons responded to two or more modalities, these multimodal neurons are common in the median protocerebrum of the bee. The differentiated response pattern of the cells does not allow a simple classification. Some of the neurons were identified after the injection of the fluorescent dye Procion yellow. We found 4 neurons with arborizations in the α-lobe and the calyces of the mushroom bodies.

Received: 1979-4-12
Published Online: 2014-6-2
Published in Print: 1979-8-1

© 1946 – 2014: Verlag der Zeitschrift für Naturforschung

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

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