Effects of dorsal and ventral vertical lobe electrolytic lesions on spatial learning and locomotor activity in Sepia officinalis.

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the effects of electrolytic lesion, restricted to either the ventral or the dorsal parts of the vertical lobe (VL), on the behavior of cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis). Two behavioral tests were performed on sham-operated and lesioned cuttlefish: assessment of locomotor activity in an open field and determination of spatial learning abilities in a T maze. The results showed that ventral lesions of the VL led to marked impairment in the acquisition of spatial learning, whereas dorsal lesions of the VL increased locomotor activity in the open field and impaired long-term retention of spatial learning. This study establishes for the first time the existence of distinct functions in the ventral and the dorsal parts of the VL in cephalopods.

Ontogeny of Oxytocin-Like Immunoreactivity in the Cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis, Central Nervous System

“…In other words, the spatiotemporal changes in OT-like expression may reflect the different developmental profiles of each lobe during the first postnatal days, suggesting that OT-like peptides may assume a structural role as reported in the vertebrates Carter, 2003;Cushing et al, 2003;Kramer et al, 2003;Yamamoto et al, 2004]. However, in light of the known physiological roles of several structures in the adult cuttlefish CNS [Boycott, 1961;Sanders, 1975;Chichery and Chichery, 1987;Hanlon and Messenger, 1996;Agin et al, 2001Agin et al, , 2006aHalm et al, 2003;Graindorge et al, 2006], and given the neurological changes underlying the development of behavior in juvenile cuttlefish [Messenger, 1973;Dickel et al, 1997Dickel et al, , 2001], several hypotheses may be proposed regarding the functional implications of the OT-like peptide in S. officinalis during ontogenesis.…”

“…In the adult cuttlefish, the vertical lobe complex has been implicated in learning processes [Sanders and Young, 1940;Young, 1965;Sanders, 1975;Agin et al, 2001Agin et al, , 2006aNixon and Young, 2003;Graindorge et al, 2006]. In addition, a relationship between the important growth of the main lobes of the vertical lobe complex (vertical and frontal superior lobes) and the improvement of learning abilities during the first months of postembryonic life has been demonstrated in the cuttlefish [Messenger, 1973;Dickel et al, 2001].…”

Sex differences in spatial cognition in an invertebrate: the cuttlefish

“…The vertical lobe of the cuttlefish brain is known to share cellular processes (long-term potentiation, Hochner et al 2003) and structural (sequences of intersected matrices, Young 1991) and functional properties (implication in locomotor activity level and memory, Graindorge et al 2006) with the hippocampus. Electrolytic lesions of the ventral part of the vertical lobe induced impairments in the acquisition of a comparable spatial task (Graindorge et al 2006). Thus, it would be interesting to undertake comparative studies of the vertical lobe between males and females.…”

The Evolution of Flexible Behavioral Repertoires in Cephalopod Molluscs

“…The detailed neuroanatomical organization of the cephalopod nervous system has been described in detail for representative octopuses [Young, 1971], squids [Young, 1979], and cuttlefish [Boycott, 1961;Budelmann, 1995;Budelmann et al, 1995;Graindorge et al, 2006], along with nautiluses ( fig. 2 A-D) [Young, 1965a;Shigeno et al, 2008].…”

“…2 B, InFF) and a cluster of lobes involved in visual and spatial processing ( fig. 2 B, superior-frontalvertical lobe system, SFL, VL) [Boycott andYoung, 1950, 1955;Young, 1960bYoung, , 1961Young, , 1964Young, , 1965aYoung, , b, 1971Young, , 1988Young, , 1991Dickel et al, 2001;Agin et al, 2003;Graindorge et al, 2006;Hochner et al, 2006;Glanzman, 2008;Shomrat, 2008].…”