Ants and Depression
WouterUsing a Bayesian hierarchical model, the authors compared two variants of an ANT. The variant containing a single 5-HT immunoreactive cell body was considered the lucky winner.
While there is no evidence that individual ants experience depression, they are not alone in their quest for sugary treats. Ants are known for their social life, and the ability to communicate with other ants can be helpful to a colony.
While the ability to detect and identify an ANT is not a scientific feat, there is evidence that ants use the same techniques humans do. One study found that ants have the ability to locate objects in the environment. Another found that ants have a cyclical pattern of resting periods. These periods last eight minutes in a twelve hour period.
The first study to look at the subject found that ants did indeed have a logical explanation for the ability to detect and identify an ANT. The process consisted of a warm-up and post-warm-up iteration, involving 10,000 times the number of iterations required to make a diagnosis.
A second study analyzed the same set of data. They found that ants that had been isolated for a day did better than those who were confined to a plastic box. Isolated ants walked for twice the distance as ants that stayed with their nest mates.
They also found that ants ingested as much food as grouped mates. In other words, ants have a lot of energy.
