D3131: The effects of sleep deprivation on learning in Camponotus floridanus

Sleep plays an important physiological role in the preservation of cognitive functions, particularly learning and memory. Sleep loss has shown to result in learning deficits in human and rat models, however how sleep affects cognition in insect models has yet to be widely studied. Learning and subsequent memory recall is particularly integral to the survival of ants as it assists in both navigation and foraging purposes. In this experiment, Camponotus floridanus ants were sleep-deprived and subsequently trained to extend their proboscis at the presentation of a certain scent using PER (proboscis extension response) to observe if sleep loss induced a negative impact on their learning capacity. The results indicated that sleep-deprived subjects exhibited fewer PERs than did non-sleep-deprived subjects, which could reflect learning impairments. The study also aimed to determine sleep-deprived subjects’ levels of kynurenic acid (KYNA), a compound that has been correlated with cognitive impairments in rat and human models. Here it was found that expression of kynurenine/alpha-aminoadipate aminotransferase, mitochondrial (LOC105256158), the gene which leads to the production of KYNA, is associated with sleep loss in Camponotus floridanus. My findings suggest that similar to human and rat models, sleep impacts learning and cognition in Camponotus floridanus.