Preliminary Analyses of Expression of Learning and Memory Related Genes in Honey Bees (<i>Apis mellifera</i>) in Free-Choice Learning Paradigms

Honey bees are an established animal model for studying learning and memory related behaviors. In recent years, honey bees have become more common as a model for investigations of molecular biology, including gene expression. Honey bees have been used to extrapolate genetic functions found in other invertebrates, such as Drosophila melanogaster. The honey bee model has also provided a means for isolating novel genes, including non-coding microRNA fragments. Integrating the study of learning and memory with molecular genetics, the present work examines the effect of learning acquisition and memory consolidation in free-choice paradigms on the expression of a suite of genes of interest. Results suggest that short-term learning acquisition causes differential expression of microRNA fragments, while memory consolidation differentially affects the expression of the serine/threonine protein kinase gene in honey bees. These results corroborate previous findings suggesting the importance of protein kinases in the formation of long term memory, and suggest that microRNA may play a large role in regulation of cytoskeletal scaffolding proteins.

The Application of Comparative Psychology to Parapsychology: A Recommendation

We propose that the comparative psychological principle of “levels” be used as a new research methodology to investigate psi in humans. Rather than investigate psi in animals, as is sometimes done, we propose to investigate psi in humans using animals as a receptor. Our approach is to start with simple organisms such as protozoans and progress to planarians and honey bees. The behavior of these organisms is well characterized and easily manipulated. Deviations from standard behavior patterns during an experiment on telekinesis can suggest psi effects. A major advantage of using invertebrates for psi research is that if a psi effect is found, the underlying mechanism of the effect can be analyzed using molecular and genetic tools. We provide suggestions on how telekinesis can be studied using this approach and suggest that Observation Oriented Modeling be used to analyze psi data.