Abstract
Muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs) play a central role in learning and memory in mammals as in honeybees. The results obtained in the honeybee Apis mellifera are based on the detrimental effects of the mAChR antagonists, atropine and scopolamine, on olfactory associative memory. Binding sites for the mAChR antagonist BODIPY® FL pirenzepine were localized in the brain of the honeybee forager. Pirenzepine binding sites were detected indifferently in several somata and neuropilar areas. The highest binding site densities were present in the central complex and in somata of the dorsomedial border of the antennal lobes. An additional binding pattern was found in somata of the subesophageal ganglion. By contrast, Kenyon cell (KC) somata were not stained. Pirenzepine (PZ) effects on non-associative learning were evaluated. Treated animals required more trials for the habituation of the proboscis extension reflex (PER) than controls, and the duration of the PER increased after PZ brain injection. These results suggest that the network mediating habituation of the PER involves PZ binding sites that are not necessarily present on the circuitry mediating olfactory conditioning of the PER.