Honey bees begin life working in the hive. At 3 weeks of age, they shift to visiting ?owers to forage for pollen and nectar. Foraging is a complex task associated with enlargement of the mushroom bodies, a brain region important in insects for certain forms of learning and memory. We report here that foraging bees had a larger volume of mushroom body neuropil than did agematched bees con?ned to the hive. This result indicates that direct experience of the world outside the hive causes mushroom body
neuropil growth in bees. We also show that oral treatment of caged bees with pilocarpine, a muscarinic agonist, induced an
increase in the volume of the neuropil similar to that seen after a week of foraging experience. Effects of pilocarpine were blocked by scopolamine, a muscarinic antagonist. Our results suggest that signaling in cholinergic pathways couples experience to structural brain plasticity.
As humanity becomes more conscious to the language of nature, it is clear that mushrooms in their many forms come in peace and are here to help. The uses, benefits, and applications of mushrooms currently seem to be limitless cutting across all industries, cultures, and modalities. Embraced by the medical community, gardeners, architects, spiritualists, religions and others, their boundaries are yet to be found.
The intricate matrix of mushroom mycelium under our feet represents rebirth, rejuvenation, and regeneration. It waits patiently to reveal secrets for those with the courage to sidestep mainstream assumptions in search of something better. Fungi are the grand molecular disassemblers in nature, decomposing plants and animals, creating forests theyre soil magicians, according to Paul Stamets, world-renown mycologist.
It has also been confirmed in previous tests that fungicidal contamination reduces beneficial fungi in honey bee colonies. So what does this all mean? The widespread pesticide, herbicide, and fungicide …
The insect mushroom body (MB) may be a uniquely suitable structure for intervention. Its internal cytoarchitecture seems less complex than that of most other neuropil regions and its bizarre shape suggests a highly specialized function. Being closely associated with the chemosensory system, its role in olfaction can serve as a point of entry for the analysis, and a comparison of the MBs from species with different life styles and ecological constraints may provide useful cues for functional studies.
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