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Update: 2008/12/29 21:22
(Reuters Sydney) An Australian scientist administered cocaine to bees and studied their brain reactions, potentially uncovering methods to prevent human addiction.
The study found similarities between humans and bees in that both are driven by rewards, and their judgment is affected by cocaine.
The findings were published in the "Journal of Experimental Biology." Co-author Andrew Barron told Reuters, "This is the first evidence that cocaine has a rewarding effect on insects."
In a project conducted with Macquarie University, Australian National University, and the University of Illinois, Barron applied small amounts of cocaine to the backs of bees before releasing them to forage.
Typically, bees communicate the location and quality of food sources through a "dance" after collecting pollen.
The report stated that bees under the influence of cocaine exhibited more vigorous dance movements and seemed to display the same addictive pleasure as humans.
Barron said cocaine altered the bees' assessment of the success of their foraging activities.
He stated, "We found that bees' response to cocaine is very similar to humans, so it changes the way bees evaluate things."
Barron hopes to identify the neural pathways targeted by cocaine in bees' brains to further understand human addiction mechanisms and whether cocaine's destructive power on bee society is the same as on human society. Central News Agency (translation)
Source: http:/ / tw. news. yahoo. com/ art……url/ d/ a/ 081229/ 16/ 1c0v9. html
Bees React to Cocaine Similarly to Humans
(Reuters Sydney) An Australian scientist administered cocaine to bees and studied their brain reactions, potentially uncovering methods to prevent human addiction.
The study found similarities between humans and bees in that both are driven by rewards, and their judgment is affected by cocaine.
The findings were published in the "Journal of Experimental Biology." Co-author Andrew Barron told Reuters, "This is the first evidence that cocaine has a rewarding effect on insects."
In a project conducted with Macquarie University, Australian National University, and the University of Illinois, Barron applied small amounts of cocaine to the backs of bees before releasing them to forage.
Typically, bees communicate the location and quality of food sources through a "dance" after collecting pollen.
The report stated that bees under the influence of cocaine exhibited more vigorous dance movements and seemed to display the same addictive pleasure as humans.
Barron said cocaine altered the bees' assessment of the success of their foraging activities.
He stated, "We found that bees' response to cocaine is very similar to humans, so it changes the way bees evaluate things."
Barron hopes to identify the neural pathways targeted by cocaine in bees' brains to further understand human addiction mechanisms and whether cocaine's destructive power on bee society is the same as on human society. Central News Agency (translation)
Source: http:/ / tw. news. yahoo. com/ art……url/ d/ a/ 081229/ 16/ 1c0v9. html