Project description DEENESFRITPL Bees may experience fear in addition to being highly cognitive Cognition is tightly connected to emotional states. Cognitive abilities are certainly not confined to vertebrates, raising the question of whether emotion may not be either. Significant research has linked specific neural architecture and neurotransmitters to emotions in mammals including humans. Although bees are known for their remarkable cognitive capacity, the question of whether they experience emotions, in particular fear, has not been addressed. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the FEAR-BEES project will investigate whether bees exhibit behavioural, neurophysiological and cognitive correlates of fear using a modification of a fear conditioning paradigm employed in vertebrates. Measuring or manipulating neuropeptides and hormones in the brain and haemolymph could provide links between specific bee brain regions and fear processing. Show the project objective Hide the project objective Objective "The idea that invertebrates may have basic or primitive forms of emotions is growing. In part, this is based on cumulative evidence of high-level cognitive skills in these miniature brained animals. However, the mere presence of high-order cognitive skills does not imply the existence of emotional states and the characterization of the mechanisms underlying emotional states in invertebrates is still at its infancy. The study of proximate mechanisms of emotions in invertebrates has the potential to bypass the discussion on the appropriateness of semantics labels and advance our understanding of how the neural architecture and neurotransmitters involved in invertebrates emotions compare to those found in mammals, including humans. This project will exploit a multicomponent approach, including behavioural, neurophysiological, and cognitive correlates, to obtain powerful insights on the emotion of fear in invertebrates. Using the honey bee Apis mellifera as a model system, this project will: 1) characterise the behavioural and physiological correlates of ""fear"" using an equivalent paradigm of fear conditioning widely used in vertebrates, 2) investigate the molecular cascade of ""fear"" by quantifying the biogenic amines and neuropeptides in specific brain regions and circulating neuro-hormones in the haemolymph using cutting edge techniques, and 3) test the effect of blocking or activating different aminergic/hormonal systems by local injection of specific drugs/amines/hormones in the brain/haemolymph to identify casual links between specific brain regions and emotional processing. Besides advancing our current understanding of the emotional system of invertebrates, the project outputs will affect how we interact with invertebrates and will open fruitful ethical discussions to change current research policies." Fields of science natural sciencesbiological scienceszoologyentomologyapidologynatural sciencesbiological scienceszoologymammalogynatural scienceschemical sciencesorganic chemistryaminesnatural sciencesbiological scienceszoologyinvertebrate zoology Keywords Emotions Fear Programme(s) HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme Topic(s) HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01-01 - MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2021 Call for proposal HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships Coordinator CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS Net EU contribution € 211 754,88 Address Rue michel ange 3 75794 Paris France See on map Region Ile-de-France Ile-de-France Paris Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 0,00 Partners (2) Sort alphabetically Sort by Net EU contribution Expand all Collapse all UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI FIRENZE Italy Net EU contribution € 0,00 Address Piazza san marco 4 50121 Florence See on map Region Centro (IT) Toscana Firenze Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 0,00 UNIVERSITE PAUL SABATIER TOULOUSE III France Net EU contribution € 0,00 Address Route de narbonne 118 31062 Toulouse cedex 9 See on map Region Occitanie Midi-Pyrénées Haute-Garonne Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 0,00
