Working memory in the honeybee (<i>Apis mellifera</i>)

<p dir="ltr">Working memory (WM), the ability to retain and manipulate information for a short period of time, is associated with higher cognitive processes. Research has demonstrated that the honeybee exhibits capabilities suggestive of WM. Understanding WM in honeybees could offer insights into its components, evolution and its relationship with other cognitive processes. I introduce the last lit location paradigm, designed to assess WM in honeybees. In this task, bees are restrained while a conditioned stimulus, a green LED light, is lit at one of nine potential rewarding locations. Then the stimulus is extinguished, and to get the reward, bees must be able to withhold the right location in their spatial WM. Bees were given 40 trials in this task. I recorded response time to first choice and response type (correct/incorrect). Out of 15 bees, 46.67% performed above chance levels. A Generalized Linear Model revealed a significant effect of trial number on response type (z=2.026, p=0.0428, s.e.m=0.013408), meaning honeybees can use their WM to associate a reward with an extinguished stimulus. This study provides evidence that WM is present in simpler nervous systems and demonstrates that the las lit location paradigm can help us further explore WM in honeybees.</p>