EXPERIENCE-DEPENDENT STRUCTURAL PLASTICITY IN A NATURALLY BEHAVING ANIMAL MODEL

Abstract

The ability to adjust to changing environments is critical for an animal's survival. Neurons can undergo structural changes, such as branch addition, branch retraction, or altering the number or shape of spines which change the neural connectivity in the brain. The regulation of a neuron's structure may lead to changes in future behavior via altered processing of sensory stimuli. The following chapters of this dissertation are aimed at identifying signaling pathways that control structural plasticity in the Kenyon cells of the worker honey bee brain correlated with foraging experience and identify how those changes affect honey bee behavior. The honey bee model offers an opportunity to study a naturally occurring behavior while controlling age and experience of the individual studied.