Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Search research articles

Related Experiment Videos

Route learning by insects.

Thomas S Collett¹, Paul Graham, Virginie Durier

¹Sussex Centre for Neuroscience, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QG, UK. t.s.collett@sussex.ac.uk

Current Opinion in Neurobiology

|December 10, 2003

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Ant visual route navigation: How the fine details of behaviour promote successful route performance and convergence.

PLoS computational biology·2025

Same author

Patient-derived organoids reveal hypoxia-driven plasticity and therapeutic vulnerabilities in pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2025

Same author

Lateralised memory networks may explain the use of higher-order visual features in navigating insects.

PLoS computational biology·2025

Same author

The neuroethology of ant navigation.

Current biology : CB·2025

Same author

Adaptive Route Memory Sequences for Insect-Inspired Visual Route Navigation.

Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland)·2024

Same author

A quick response, but not too much: Experienced mangabeys (Cercocebus torquatus) lose interest in contact call exchanges that do not respect this "conversational rule".

PloS one·2024

Same journal

Cichlid fish as a model for understanding social dysfunction.

Current opinion in neurobiology·2026

Same journal

On aims and methods in field neuroethology: Investigating neural mechanisms of behavior in semi-natural and natural contexts.

Current opinion in neurobiology·2026

Same journal

Neurobiological interfaces connecting environmental change to monarch butterfly migration.

Current opinion in neurobiology·2026

Same journal

Learning how to experience the world: From circuits to cell types to genes.

Current opinion in neurobiology·2026

Same journal

Editorial overview for neurobiology of disease 2026.

Current opinion in neurobiology·2026

Same journal

Optical voltage imaging: ready to spark systems neuroscience.

Current opinion in neurobiology·2026

See all related articles

Insects like ants learn efficient routes using landmarks and memory. Experience refines these paths, making navigation more robust and precise.

Area of Science:

Entomology
Animal Behavior
Neuroscience

Background:

Insects navigate using fixed routes between nests and foraging sites.
Initial navigation relies on path integration and innate landmark responses, with minimal memory.
Experience leads to route stabilization via learned landmark views and actions.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how insect navigation strategies evolve with experience.
To understand the role of memory in refining insect routes.
To explore the potential memory costs associated with selecting between learned routes.

Main Methods:

Observational studies of insect navigation.
Analysis of navigational strategy shifts based on experience.
Theoretical modeling of memory requirements for route selection.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

Insect routes become more robust and precise with memory-based strategies.
Learned routes substitute initial navigational methods.
Route selection may require additional associative memory grouping.

Conclusions:

Insect navigation transitions from innate responses to memory-driven strategies.
Learning and memory enhance the efficiency and accuracy of insect foraging routes.
Complex navigation, including route selection, involves significant memory integration.