Like many animals, honeybees (Apis mellifera) suffer from declining brain function as they age. The pace of this decline varies among individuals, partly because of variations in social behavior. Gro V. Amdam (Arizona State University, Tempe, and Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Aas) and colleagues recently took a closer look at the effects of social behavior on aging-related declines in brain function in honeybees. They found that such declines were specifically associated with certain social roles and, moreover, could be reversed by changes in social behavior. The results suggest that social interventions may be effective treatment strategies for age-related declines in brain function in humans.

Worker honeybees have various roles in the hive. Younger females (4–20 days old) typically remain in the hive, tending to the larvae and the queen, whereas older females (18–32 days old) typically leave the hive to forage for resources. Brain function, as measured by a sensory sensitivity test, remains fairly steady in the nurse bees but declines rapidly in foragers, who also age rapidly and die relatively quickly after switching roles. To find out whether this difference was reversible, Amdam's group removed the nurse bees from a nest. After several days of latency, some of the foragers took on nurse duties. About 10 days later, the foragers-turned-nurses had regained some brain function (Exp. Gerontol. published online 21 May 2012; doi:10.1016/j.exger.2012.05.011). This recovery was positively associated with levels of cellular stress-response and maintenance proteins in the central brain.

The study results emphasize the value of honeybees as a model for aging research; provide evidence for the reversibility of learning deficits in aged honeybees; and indicate that this reversibility is related to mechanisms of cell stress response, maintenance and repair. Future studies in mammalian models may help to elucidate whether similar changes occur in these animals. Additionally, more research is needed to investigate how social influences, such as activities and relationships, affect the aging process overall.

Social interventions may offer a new avenue for treating age-related declines in brain function, including dementia. Effective treatments for maintaining brain function are highly sought-after by scientists and pharmaceutical companies. But developing a drug therapy requires extensive basic research and rigorous trials that can take many years to complete. “Maybe social interventions—changing how you deal with your surroundings—is something we can do today to help our brains stay younger,” Amdam said in a press release.