| Title: | Pheromones modulate responsiveness to a noxious stimulus in honey bees |
| Author(s): | Rossi N; d'Ettorre P; Giurfa M; |
| Address: | "Research Center on Animal Cognition, Center for Integrative Biology, CNRS, University of Toulouse, 118 route de Narbonne, F-31062 Toulouse cedex 09, France. Laboratory of Experimental and Comparative Ethology, University of Paris 13, Sorbonne Paris Cite, 99 avenue J.-B. Clement, Villetaneuse, France. Research Center on Animal Cognition, Center for Integrative Biology, CNRS, University of Toulouse, 118 route de Narbonne, F-31062 Toulouse cedex 09, France martin.giurfa@univ-tlse3.fr" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1477-9145 (Electronic) 0022-0949 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Pheromones are chemical substances released into the environment by an individual, which trigger stereotyped behaviors and/or physiological processes in individuals of the same species. Yet, a novel hypothesis has suggested that pheromones not only elicit innate responses but also contribute to behavioral plasticity by affecting the subjective evaluation of appetitive or aversive stimuli. To test this hypothesis, we exposed bees to three pheromonal components whose valence was either negative (i.e. associated with aversive events: isopentyl acetate and 2-heptanone) or positive (i.e. associated with appetitive events: geraniol). We then determined the effect of this exposure on the subjective evaluation of aversive stimuli by quantifying responsiveness to a series of increasing electric shock voltages before and after exposure. Two experiments were conducted varying the time lapse between shock series (15 min in experiment 1, and 24 h in experiment 2). In experiment 1, we observed a general decrease of shock responsiveness caused by fatigue, due to the short lapse of time between the two series of shocks. This decrease could only be counteracted by isopentyl acetate. The enhancing effect of isopentyl acetate on shock responsiveness was also found in experiment 2. Conversely, geraniol decreased aversive responsiveness in this experiment; 2-heptanone did not affect aversive responsiveness in any experiment. Overall, our results demonstrate that certain pheromones modulate the salience of aversive stimuli according to their valence. In this way, they would affect the motivation to engage in aversive responses, thus acting as modulators of behavioral plasticity" |
| Keywords: | "Acyclic Monoterpenes Animals Bees/*drug effects/physiology Behavior, Animal/drug effects *Electric Stimulation Female Ketones/pharmacology Pentanols/pharmacology Pheromones/*pharmacology Terpenes/pharmacology Aggregation pheromone Alarm pheromones Apis me;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineRossi, Natacha d'Ettorre, Patrizia Giurfa, Martin eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2018/01/31 J Exp Biol. 2018 Mar 13; 221(Pt 5):jeb172270. doi: 10.1242/jeb.172270" |
