A Model of Non-elemental Associative Learning in the Mushroom Body Neuropil of the Insect Brain

We developed a computational model of the mushroom body (MB), a prominent region of multimodal integration in the insect brain, and tested the model's performance for non-elemental associative learning in visual pattern avoidance tasks. We employ a realistic spiking neuron model and spike time dependent plasticity, and learning performance is investigated in closed-loop conditions. We show that the distinctive neuroarchitecture (divergence onto MB neurons and convergence from MB neurons, with an otherwise non-specific connectivity) is sufficient for solving non-elemental learning tasks and thus modulating underlying reflexes in context-dependent, heterarchical manner.

[1]  N. Strausfeld,et al.  Mushroom bodies of the cockroach: Their participation in place memory , 1998, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[2]  Ramón Huerta,et al.  Self-organization in the olfactory system: one shot odor recognition in insects , 2005, Biological Cybernetics.

[3]  G. Laurent,et al.  Intrinsic and Circuit Properties Favor Coincidence Detection for Decoding Oscillatory Input , 2004, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[4]  M. Giurfa.  Cognitive neuroethology: dissecting non-elemental learning in a honeybee brain , 2003, Current Opinion in Neurobiology.

[5]  Eugene M. Izhikevich,et al.  Dynamical Systems in Neuroscience: The Geometry of Excitability and Bursting , 2006 .

[6]  M. Heisenberg.  What do the mushroom bodies do for the insect brain? an introduction. , 1998, Learning & memory.

[7]  Bruno A Olshausen,et al.  Sparse coding of sensory inputs , 2004, Current Opinion in Neurobiology.

[8]  Li Liu,et al.  Context generalization in Drosophila visual learning requires the mushroom bodies , 1999, Nature.

[9]  Ramón Huerta,et al.  Decoding Temporal Information Through Slow Lateral Excitation in the Olfactory System of Insects , 2003, Journal of Computational Neuroscience.

[10]  B. Tabashnik,et al.  Development time and resistance to Bt crops , 1999, Nature.

[11]  R. Menzel,et al.  Symmetry perception in an insect , 1996, Nature.

[12]  M. Srinivasan,et al.  The concepts of ‘sameness’ and ‘difference’ in an insect , 2001, Nature.

[13]  Jan Wessnitzer,et al.  Multimodal sensory integration in insects—towards insect brain control architectures , 2006, Bioinspiration & biomimetics.

[14]  N. Strausfeld,et al.  Mushroom bodies of the cockroach: Activity and identities of neurons recorded in freely moving animals , 1998, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[15]  Björn Brembs,et al.  An Analysis of Associative Learning in Drosophila at the Flight Simulator , 2000 .

[16]  Makoto Mizunami,et al.  Distribution of dendrites of descending neurons and its implications for the basic organization of the cockroach brain. , 2003, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[17]  Y. Dan,et al.  Spike Timing-Dependent Plasticity of Neural Circuits , 2004, Neuron.

[18]  R. Menzel,et al.  Cognitive architecture of a mini-brain: the honeybee , 2001, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[19]  L. Abbott,et al.  Competitive Hebbian learning through spike-timing-dependent synaptic plasticity , 2000, Nature Neuroscience.

[20]  Gilles Laurent,et al.  Olfactory network dynamics and the coding of multidimensional signals , 2002, Nature Reviews Neuroscience.