Interpretation of sensory unimodal and multimodal signals by bees.

Many biological systems rely on the use of sensory multimodal rather than unimodal signals for communication. That multimodal displays entail high energetic costs but are very common in nature suggests that benefits surpass the costs. Also, that receivers of information have evolved to interpret such multimodal signals suggests benefits on their side. The goal of this project is to evaluate functional hypotheses suggesting that complex (multimodal) signals may enhance the acquisition, processing and retrieval of information. This project also has aims to evaluate whether the animal model (namely the Africanized honeybee Apis mellifera) is able to interpret complex (multimodal) signals as unique configurations rather than simple sum of independent components. Finally, we aim to evaluate the role of neuromodulators in the performance of bees learning unimodal and bimodal signals.