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The effects of amines on evoked potentials recorded in the mushroom bodies of the bee brain

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Summary

  1. 1.

    Dopamine and octopamine are applied iontophoretically to specific regions of the bee brain and the effects measured on evoked potentials recorded in the α-lobe of the mushroom bodies.

  2. 2.

    Octopamine enhances the size of potentials evoked by light stimuli. Dopamine has no significant effect on light-evoked potentials.

  3. 3.

    Both dopamine and octopamine reduce the size of potentials evoked by stimulation of the antennae with air or scent. In some animals however, octopamine, unlike dopamine, enhances olfactory responses.

  4. 4.

    Differences between the effects of dopamine and octopamine on neural activity in the mushroom bodies of the bee brain may be related to the differences between the effects of these amines on behavioral responses in the bee reported in earlier studies (Mercer and Menzel 1982).

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Abbreviations

AGT :

antenno-glomerular-tract

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Author notes

  1. A. R. Mercer (Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow)

    Present address: Department of Zoology, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand

  2. J. Erber

    Present address: Institute of Biology, Technical University Berlin, Franklinstrasse 28/29, D-1000, Berlin 10

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Tierphysiologie der Freien Universität, Grunewaldstrasse 34, D-1000, Berlin 41

    A. R. Mercer (Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow) & J. Erber

Authors
  1. A. R. Mercer
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  2. J. Erber
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Mercer, A.R., Erber, J. The effects of amines on evoked potentials recorded in the mushroom bodies of the bee brain. J. Comp. Physiol. 151, 469–476 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00605463

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00605463

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