ArticlePLoS computational biology2023
Natural variability in bee brain size and symmetry revealed by micro-CT imaging and deep learning.
Article in PLoS computational biology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers.
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17 citing papers in PubMed, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- When a bigger brain is better: The case of bee olfactory learning.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Bioimaging of sense organs and the central nervous system in extant fishes and reptiles in situ: A review.Anatomical record (Hoboken, N.J. : 2007) · 2026Review
- Redescription ofParasitology · 2026Article
- High-throughput phenomics of global ant biodiversity.Nature methods · 2026Article
- Clinical application of HEDI for biomechanical evaluation and visualisation in incisional hernia repair.Communications medicine · 2026Article
- Segmentation of cortical bone, trabecular bone, and medullary pores from micro-CT images using 2D and 3D deep learning models.Anatomical record (Hoboken, N.J. : 2007) · 2025Article
- Behavioral Responses of the BumblebeeBiology · 2025Article
- The IMAGE beamline at the KIT Light Source.Journal of synchrotron radiation · 2025Article
- Differential performance of aqueous- and ethylic-Lugol's iodine stain to visualize anatomy in μCT-scanned vertebrates.Journal of anatomy · 2025Article
- Assessing the application of landmark-free morphometrics to macroevolutionary analyses.BMC ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Deep learning software and revised 2D model to segment bone in micro-CT scans.Frontiers in bioinformatics · 2025Article
- Article
- How many specimens make a sufficient training set for automated three-dimensional feature extraction?Royal Society open science · 2024Article
- Article
- Opportunities and Challenges in Applying AI to Evolutionary Morphology.Integrative organismal biology (Oxford, England) · 2024Review
- Micro-CT and deep learning: Modern techniques and applications in insect morphology and neuroscience.Frontiers in insect science · 2023Review
- Enhanced contrast synchrotron X-ray microtomography for describing skeleton-associated soft tissue defects in zebrafish mutants.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Analysing large numbers of brain samples can reveal minor, but statistically and biologically relevant variations in brain morphology that provide critical insights into animal behaviour, ecology and evolution. So far, however, such analyses have required extensive manual effort, which considerably limits the scope for comparative research. Here we used micro-CT imaging and deep learning to perform automated analyses of 3D image data from 187 honey bee and bumblebee brains. We revealed strong inter-individual variations in total brain size that are consistent across colonies and species, and may underpin behavioural variability central to complex social organisations. In addition, the bumblebee dataset showed a significant level of lateralization in optic and antennal lobes, providing a potential explanation for reported variations in visual and olfactory learning. Our fast, robust and user-friendly approach holds considerable promises for carrying out large-scale quantitative neuroanatomical comparisons across a wider range of animals. Ultimately, this will help address fundamental unresolved questions related to the evolution of animal brains and cognition.
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