Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31171814›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2019

Randomly weighted receptor inputs can explain the large diversity of colour-coding neurons in the bee visual system.

Vera Vasas, Fei Peng, HaDi MaBouDi, Lars Chittka

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Flower colour contrast, 'spectral purity' and a red herring.Plant biology (Stuttgart, Germany) · 2025
    Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Color vision in insects: insights from Drosophila.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2020
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Vera VasasBee Sensory and Behavioural Ecology Lab, Department of Experimental and Biological Psychology, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
Fei PengDepartment of Psychology, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, 1838 Guangzhou Road, Guangzhou, 510515, Guangdong, China. fpeng@smu.edu.cn.
HaDi MaBouDiBee Sensory and Behavioural Ecology Lab, Department of Experimental and Biological Psychology, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
Lars ChittkaBee Sensory and Behavioural Ecology Lab, Department of Experimental and Biological Psychology, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8153-1732

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

True colour vision requires comparing the responses of different spectral classes of photoreceptors. In insects, there is a wealth of data available on the physiology of photoreceptors and on colour-dependent behaviour, but less is known about the neural mechanisms that link the two. The available information in bees indicates a diversity of colour opponent neurons in the visual optic ganglia that significantly exceeds that known in humans and other primates. Here, we present a simple mathematical model for colour processing in the optic lobes of bees to explore how this diversity might arise. We found that the model can reproduce the physiological spectral tuning curves of the 22 neurons that have been described so far. Moreover, the distribution of the presynaptic weights in the model suggests that colour-coding neurons are likely to be wired up to the receptor inputs randomly. The perceptual distances in our random synaptic weight model are in agreement with behavioural observations. Our results support the idea that the insect nervous system might adopt partially random wiring of neurons for colour processing.

Indexed as

Color PerceptionColor VisionAnimalsAxonsBeesBehavior, AnimalColorComputer SimulationImmunohistochemistryModels, NeurologicalModels, TheoreticalNerve NetNeuronsOptic Lobe, NonmammalianPhotoreceptor CellsSynapses

Identifiers

PMID31171814
PMCPMC6554269

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.