Advancements in the Studies on Functions of the Insect Mushroom Bodies

The mushroom bodies are the major center of sensory integration in the insect brain. A great number of studies, including behavioral, electrophysiological, genetic and anatomical experi-ments, have been made on the functions of mushroom bodies in the past years. Results show that mushroom bodies have played an important role not only in the insect’s learning and memory, such as olfactory discrimination, courtship conditioning and context generalization in visual learning, but also in controlling locomotor activity, e.g. aggression and walking activity. In addition, it is likely that they are also involved in spatial learning and foraging behaviors of the insect. A brief review on the functions of mushroom bodies is made in this paper with emphasis laid on the recent advancements in studies of this field.