From dance to distress: Dopamine dynamics in honey bees

Sunday, November 10, 2024

10:00 AM – 10:12 AM MST

Location: Phoenix Convention Center, 222 B, PCC

Presenting Author(s)

James C. Nieh, Ph.D.

Professor
University of California
La Jolla, California

Co-Author(s)

SD

Shihao Dong

Chinese Academy of Sciences
Kunming, Yunnan, China (People's Republic)
TL

Tao Lin

Chinese Academy of Sciences
Kunming, Yunnan, China (People's Republic)
ZW

Ziqi Wang

Chinese Academy of Sciences
Kunming, Yunnan, China (People's Republic)
JL

Jianjun Li

Chinese Academy of Sciences
Kunming, Yunnan, China (People's Republic)
TK

Tan Ken

Chinese Academy of Sciences
Kunming, Yunnan, China (People's Republic)

Both positive and negative experiences can significantly affect the dopamine levels in animal brains. In honey bees, arriving at a rewarding food source or initiating waggle dances to recruit nestmates leads to increased dopamine levels, corresponding to a heightened desire for food. Our research introduces new findings that an inhibitory signal, the stop signal, can lower dopamine levels and reduce dance activity, regardless of direct negative experiences by the dancer. This signal, triggered by danger, a hornet predator, at the food source, can diminish the perceived value of food. By increasing brain dopamine, we observed a decrease in the negative impact of these signals, enhancing the bees' feeding and dancing behaviors and reducing both stop signaling and time spent in the hive. Our study underscores the intricate ways in which honeybees integrate colony-level food management with fundamental and widely preserved neural mechanisms found across mammals and insects.