An analysis of synthetic processing of odor mixtures in the honeybee (Apis mellifera)

Both sensory transduction and central processing of odor mixtures can give rise to several different kinds of interaction, which can influence how well individual components are perceived and processed. In particular, odor mixtures are believed to give rise to 'configural' or 'synthetic' properties that are not characteristic of the components. However, the exact nature of these effects, particularly with regard to their expression in behavior, remains to be examined in detail. Here we use feature-negative and transwitching conditioning paradigms to show that honeybees can use configural cues in odor processing. However, the nature of these configural cues is not similar to that predicted by some models of conditioning. We propose that configural models may be capable of accounting for a substantial portion of odor mixture processing.