Visual Cognition in Honey Bees: From Elemental Visual Learning to Non-elemental Problem Solving

Abstract

Visual learning admits different levels of complexity, from the ­formation of a simple associative link between a visual stimulus and its outcome, to more sophisticated performances, such as object categorization or rules learning. Not surprisingly, higher-order forms of visual learning have been studied primarily in vertebrates with larger brains, while simple visual learning has been the focus in animals with small brains such as insects. This dichotomy has recently changed as studies on visual learning in free-flying honey bees have shown that these animals can master extremely sophisticated tasks. Here we review a spectrum of visual learning forms in honey bees, from color and pattern learning, visual attention, and top-down image recognition, to category learning, and rule extraction. We discuss the necessity and sufficiency of simple associations to account for complex visual learning in honey bees. We maintain that progresses in understanding the neural bases of visual cognition will be possible through novel protocols – unavailable until now – combining visual performances and simultaneous access to the nervous system.