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Brain activity of slumbering bees may inform human sleep and memory disorders
https://phys.org/news/2025-05-brain-slumbering-bees-human-memory.html
So different, yet so alike. Through pollination, bees play an important role in the ecosystem, affecting the life cycle of plants, biodiversity and agricultural production. Their presence goes hand in hand with human activity.
Now, a study at the University of Trento suggests an even deeper connection. What happens in the brains of these insects during sleep turns out to be not so different from what occurs in the human brain when we sleep. In other words, sleep appears to carry the same "signature" at the neuronal level.
These findings are detailed in the article "Neuronal correlates of sleep in honey bees," now published in the journal Neural Networks.
. . .
"We have shown that, in resting states, the brain networks of bees switch to a synchronized and reduced information processing mode, similar to what happens in mammals. Using computational simulations of the brain, we identified how the neural network and its connections change during sleep.
Now, a study at the University of Trento suggests an even deeper connection. What happens in the brains of these insects during sleep turns out to be not so different from what occurs in the human brain when we sleep. In other words, sleep appears to carry the same "signature" at the neuronal level.
These findings are detailed in the article "Neuronal correlates of sleep in honey bees," now published in the journal Neural Networks.
. . .
"We have shown that, in resting states, the brain networks of bees switch to a synchronized and reduced information processing mode, similar to what happens in mammals. Using computational simulations of the brain, we identified how the neural network and its connections change during sleep.