When a bigger brain is better: The case of bee olfactory learning

Whether bigger brains provide enhanced cognitive capacities is a long-lasting and controversial question. While big brains may not be required for producing sophisticated behavior, they could facilitate information processing and memory storage. Here, we report a positive relationship between head size and learning performance in two model bee species, using data from 2,141 individuals. Among honey bees, head size varied by about 30%, and those with larger heads showed higher olfactory learning performance for associative tasks that varied in difficulty. Microcomputed tomography measures indicated that this relationship was linked to brain size variation: The best odor learners had the largest antennal lobes. We made similar observations in bumblebees, suggesting that natural brain size variation is associated with individual cognitive variation in these social bees.

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Publication Details

Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Published
2026-04-13
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2514030123
Primary Topic
Neurobiology and Insect Physiology Research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

When a bigger brain is better: The case of bee olfactory learning

Paul Marchal, Coline Monchanin, Fabrice Lihoreau, Tamara Gómez‐Moracho et al.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Neurobiology and Insect Physiology Research
article

When a bigger brain is better: The case of bee olfactory learning

Paul Marchal, Coline Monchanin, Fabrice Lihoreau, Tamara Gómez‐Moracho, Andrew B. Barron, Renaud Lebrun, Jean‐Marc Devaud, Cristian Pasquaretta, Mathieu Lihoreau, Alexis Buatois, Philipp D. Lösel, Louise Bestea
article en

Abstract

Whether bigger brains provide enhanced cognitive capacities is a long-lasting and controversial question. While big brains may not be required for producing sophisticated behavior, they could facilitate information processing and memory storage. Here, we report a positive relationship between head size and learning performance in two model bee species, using data from 2,141 individuals. Among honey bees, head size varied by about 30%, and those with larger heads showed higher olfactory learning performance for associative tasks that varied in difficulty. Microcomputed tomography measures indicated that this relationship was linked to brain size variation: The best odor learners had the largest antennal lobes. We made similar observations in bumblebees, suggesting that natural brain size variation is associated with individual cognitive variation in these social bees.

Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesVol. 123(17)
Australian National University (AU), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Universidad de Granada (ES), Institut Universitaire de France (FR), Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale (FR), Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier (FR), Institut NeuroMyoGène (FR), Clinique Claude-Bernard (FR), Institute of Parasitology (CZ), Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (CH), Macquarie University (AU)
European Commission, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Australian Research Council
Openalex Percentile: Top 20%
Neurobiology and Insect Physiology Research
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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