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A group led by Prof. Makoto Mizunami in Tohoku University (currently in Hokkaido University, Faculty of Science) discovered a region for alarm pheromone processing in a higher olfactory center called the lateral horn of ant’s brains that was heretofore unknown in any animal. Social insects such as ants exhibit sophisticated communication by means of pheromones. For example, ants use alarm pheromones to alert nestmates when they discover nest intruders. The present finding suggests that ants have evolved a specific brain region for communication by means of pheromones, akin to humans evolving specific brain regions for communication to use language. Further study of the ant brain promises to yield information on the evolution of brain systems and the evolution of sociality not just in ants, but also in humans. The results of this study were reported in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B on April 7, 2010. Contact information:
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