Thrill seeking honey bees exhibit the same brain activity as thrill seeking humans. It's coded in our DNA.
Some honey bees are more likely than others to seek adventure. The brains of these novelty seeking bees exhibit distinct patterns of gene activity in molecular pathways known to be associated with thrill seeking in humans, researchers report.
When a colony of bees outgrows its living quarters, the hive divides and the swarm must find a suitable new home. At this moment of crisis, a few intrepid bees - less than 5 percent of the swarm - take off to hunt for a hive.
These bees, called nest scouts, are on average 3.4 times more likely than their peers to also become food scouts
The researchers found thousands of distinct differences in gene activity in the brains of scouting vs non-scouting bees.
Several differentially expressed genes related to catecholamine, glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) signaling which are also involved in regulating novelty seeking and responding to reward in vertebrates.
Novelty seeking in humans appears to have parallels in insects based on the same consistent behavioral differences and molecular underpinnings.
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