Bumblebees at work in an emotion-like state

Abstract

Pretest sucrose affects a dopamine-modulated response of bumblebees to an ambiguous cue to reward as well as a response to a simulated attack (Perry, Baciadonna, & Chittka, Science, 353(6307), 1529-1531, 2016). The contribution of the study lies in opening the door to research on the inner experience of insects, the learning and motivational mechanisms of their behavior, and the evolutionary analysis of emotions.