Abstract
The learning center of insects, the " corps pédonculé " (mushroom body) receives sensory stimuli, particularly olfactory stimuli, and associates them with reward or punishment. This is the structure most similar to the mammalian cortex. How are sophisticated learning behaviors in eusocial animals (e.g. ants) controlled by a huge increase in the number of neurons and their cell types ? The mechanisms discovered will be compared with the evolution of the mammalian cortex.
