Researchers have found bees can do basic mathematics, in a discovery that expands our understanding of the relationship between brain size and brain power.
Anyone who has seen a honeycomb knows bees can understand geometry, but now there is proof their tiny brains are also capable of learning basic arithmetic.
In their study, the researchers found that bees can be taught to recognise colours as symbolic representations for addition and subtraction. They were then able to use this information to solve maths problems presented to them by the researchers. And while addition and subtraction may come easily to us, they are actually complex operations as they require two levels of processing.
Despite having a brain containing less than one million neurons, the honeybee has recently shown it can manage complex problems – like understanding the concept of zero. Researchers say the discovery expands our understanding of the relationship between brain size and brain power.
Australian and French researchers at RMIT University have succeeded in teaching honeybees to do simple addition and subtraction in their heads, mid flight.
The experiment used special colour-coded mazes that presented the subjects with a maths problem and two possible answers. The bees learned, over hundreds of trials, to either add or subtract one element from a number between one and five to select the correct path in the Y-shaped maze.
They earned a reward of sugar water when they made a correct choice, but received a bitter quinine solution if they chose wrong.
RMIT's Associate Professor Adrian Dyer said numerical operations like addition and subtraction are complex because they require two levels of processing.
“You need to be able to hold the rules around adding and subtracting in your long-term memory, while mentally manipulating a set of given numbers in your short-term memory,” says Dyer. “On top of this, our bees also used their short-term memories to solve arithmetic problems, as they learned to recognise plus or minus as abstract concepts rather than being given visual aids.”
But does the development of arithmetical thinking require a large primate brain, or do other animals face similar problems that enable them to process arithmetic operations? We explored this using the honeybee.
Many species can understand the difference between quantities and use it to forage, make decisions and solve problems. Previous studies have shown some apes, birds, babies and even spiders can add or subtract.
The findings, published this week in Science Advances, imply that bigger is not always better, as far as brains go.
The Honey Bee Brain Is Tiny But Powerful
In spite of their small brain sizes, honey bees are very smart. Bees have a remarkable ability to learn and recall things very quickly.
Their brains are about 20,000 times less massive compared to human brains.
The honey bee brain is actually ten times denser compared to a mammal's brain.
The honey bee brain has an oval shape and is about the size of one sesame seed.
The bee brain is a very sophisticated sensory system which gives them excellent sight and smell abilities.
Their small brains are able to make very complicated calculations on distances for different locations.
Bees can remember various colours and different landmarks quite easily.
How to train your Honey Bee
Honeybees were individually trained to visit a Y-maze shaped apparatus.
When a bee entered the maze, they would see a set of elements between 1 to 5 shapes. These shapes would either be blue (meaning the bee had to add) or yellow (meaning the bee had to subtract). The bee would then fly into a decision chamber, where it could choose to fly to the left or right side of the maze. One side had the correct solution of either plus or minus one, while the other side had the incorrect solution.
PHOTO: An illustration showing the maze to test whether bees can use addition, with blue shapes and two options. (Scarlett Howard, RMIT)
Honeybees will go back to a place if the location provides a good source of food, so the bees returned repeatedly to the experimental set-up to collect nutrition and continue learning.
At the beginning of the experiment, bees made random choices until they could work out how to solve the problem. Eventually, over 100 learning trials, bees learnt that blue meant +1 while yellow meant -1. Bees could then apply the rules to new numbers.
Possible implications for Artificial Intelligence & neurobiology
The findings are exciting because it was unknown whether a "miniature brain" in a bee could do such sophisticated tasks.
"Fifteen to 20 years ago, the well-accepted position was that doing additions, subtraction, basic arithmetic is something we can do as humans, something very special about us," Dr Dyer said.
Scientists say the revelation that even the miniature brain of a honeybee can grasp basic mathematical operations has implications for the future development of Artificial Intelligence, particularly in improving rapid learning.
“If maths doesn’t require a massive brain, there might also be new ways for us to incorporate interactions of both long-term rules and working memory into designs to improve rapid AI learning of new problems.” says Dyer.
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