Author:
Guerrieri Fernando,Lachnit Harald,Gerber Bertram,Giurfa Martin
Abstract
Blocking occurs when previous training with a stimulus A reduces (blocks)
subsequent learning about a stimulus B, when A and B are trained in compound.
The question of whether blocking exists in olfactory conditioning of proboscis
extension reflex (PER) in honeybees is under debate. The last published
accounts on blocking in honeybees state that blocking occurs when odors A and
B are similar (the “similarity hypothesis”). We have tested this
hypothesis using four odors (1-octanol, 1-nonanol, eugenol, and limonene)
chosen on the basis of their chemical and physiological similarity (experiment
1). We established a generalization matrix that measured perceptual
similarity. Bees in the “block group” were first trained with an
odor A and, in the second phase, with the mixture AB. Bees in the “novel
group” (control group) were first trained with an odor N and, in the
second phase, with the mixture AB. After conditioning, bees in both groups
were tested for their response to B. We assayed all 24 possible combinations
for the four odors standing for A, B, and N. We found blocking in four cases,
augmentation in two cases, and no difference in 18 cases; odor similarity
could not account for these results. We also repeated the experiments with
those six odor combinations that gave rise to the similarity hypothesis
(experiment 2: 1-hexanol, 1-octanol, geraniol) and found augmentation in one
and no effect in five cases. Thus, blocking is not a consistent phenomenon,
nor does it depend on odor similarity.
Publisher
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Subject
Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience,Cognitive Neuroscience,Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology
Cited by
47 articles.
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