Everything about Mushroom Body totally explained
The
mushroom bodies or
corpora pedunculata are a pair of structures in the
brain of
insects and other
arthropods. They are usually described as
neuropils, for example as dense networks of
neurons and
glia. They get their name from their roughly hemispherical
calyx, a protuberance that's joining to the rest of the brain by a central nerve tract or
peduncle.
Mushroom bodies are known to be involved in
learning and
memory, particularly for
smell. They are largest in the
Hymenoptera, which are known to have particularly elaborate olfactory control over behaviour. In larger insects, studies suggest that mushroom bodies have other learning and memory functions, like associative memory, sensory filtering, motor control, and place memory.
Comparisons between genes early in mushroom body development show a
homology with similar developing genes in the forebrain of
mammals.
(graded junction)
The mushroom bodies are currently the subject of intense research. They have been compared to the
cerebral cortex of
mammals. Because they're small compared to the brain structures of
vertebrates, and yet many arthropods are capable of quite complex learning, it's hoped that investigations of the mushroom bodies will allow a clear view of the
neurophysiology of
animal cognition. The most recent research is also beginning to reveal the
genetic control of processes within the mushroom bodies.
Most of our current knowledge of the mushroom bodies comes from studies of a few species of insect, especially the
cockroach Periplaneta americana, the
honey bee Apis mellifera, the
locust and the fruit fly
Drosophila melanogaster. Studies of fruit fly mushroom bodies have been particularly important for understanding the genetic basis of their functioning, since the genetics of this species are known in exceptional detail.
In the insect brain, the peduncles of the mushroom bodies extend through the
midbrain. They are mainly composed of the long, densely packed nerve fibres of the
Kenyon cells, the intrinsic neurons of the mushroom bodies. These cells have been found in the mushroom bodies of all species that have been investigated, though their number varies; for example fruit flies have around 2,500 whereas cockroaches have about 200,000.
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