Bees Given Cocaine in Experiment,Makes Bees “Disco Dance”

December 24th 2008 Channel 10 news- Andrew Barron gets a buzz watching dancers high on cocaine. To help unravel mysteries of the brain, the Macquarie University researcher supplies the drug to bees and then videos them strutting on their hive’s “dance floor”. Despite the size differences, the senior lecturer in the department of brain behaviour and evolution said bee and human brains have similarities. Both are wired to reward their owners by making them feel good when they achieve success. In humans, the sense of pleasure is linked to the brain’s release of dopamine. The bee’s reward system is activated after a particularly good day seeking nectar or pollen. On arriving home the excited insect advertises its success to the colony by dancing, passing on details of its discoveries. Cocaine, says Dr Barron, “hijacks” the human brain’s reward system, making users feel more successful than they really are. “When you are on cocaine you think you are king of the world.” To help understand why, he uses a dropper to apply three-millionths of a gram of cocaine to the backs of bees before sending them out to hunt for food. “You need a steady hand,” he said. On their return, the bee dances are recorded and the images studied frame by frame to determine how the drug has influenced each insect’s understanding of its own success. “Dancing is not an automatic response,” Dr Barron said. Only the discovery of a good food supply is advertised and the better the find, the faster the bee …
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