The Menzel Research Group

Neurobiology and the Behavior of the Honeybee; Our research group applies a top-down approach with the aim of understanding the neural and cellular basis of sensory perception (olfactory, visual), learning, and memory in honeybees. We chose the honeybee because it learns fast and effectively at the feeding site and, under constraint, in laboratory conditioning. Memory in bees is a dynamic self-organizing process that runs through phases and leads to life-long stability. Sensory capacities can be scrutinized with training techniques and related to the eco-evolutionary conditions for which they were developed. We try to relate the various levels of analysis to each other by asking the same questions at the behavioral, neural, cellular, and molecular level. At the neural level, we apply single cell recording (sharp and patch electrodes) and imaging (calcium fluorescence) techniques. At the cellular and molecular level we apply biochemical (protein chemistry, antibodies) and molecular techniques (cloning, sequencing).; German version
: Our current research projects on honeybees are:; 1. Navigation in honeybees: the organization of large-scale spatial memory; Menzel / Greggers; 2. Detection and recognition of color patterns and the design of color patterns in flowers; Hempel de Ibarra / Wertlen