One-trial conditioning of aerial respiratory behaviour in Lymnaea stagnalis

A flavanoid component of chocolate quickly reverses an imposed memory deficit

“…Our preparation has a number of attractive attributes including that it can be operantly conditioned, a form of associative learning; following conditioning, short (STM), intermediate (ITM) and long-term memory (LTM) form (Lukowiak et al, 1996(Lukowiak et al, , 2000Dalesman and Lukowiak, 2012). In addition, we have demonstrated that: (1) memory recall is context specific (Haney and Lukowiak, 2001); (2) one-trial learning occurs (Martens et al, 2007); (3) reconsolidation and extinction occur (Sangha et al, 2003a,b); (4) forgetting is an active process ; and (5) a false memory can be implanted into the snail following activation of the memory . We have also shown that: (1) a single neuron, RPeD1 is a necessary site for LTM formation (Scheibenstock et al, 2002) and significant changes in synaptic input as well as changes in neuronal excitability of this neuron have been correlated with LTM (Spencer et al, 1999(Spencer et al, , 2002Braun and Lukowiak, 2011); (2) learning and memory formation can be demonstrated in an in vitro semi-intact preparation (McComb et al, 2005); (3) differences in cognitive ability occur at both the behavioural (Orr et al, 2009;Dalesman et al, 2011a,b,c) and neuronal levels Braun et al, 2012); and (4) a partial proteomics profile exists for changes underlying LTM formation .…”

“…We defined memory as having been formed in snails trained with the two 0.5 h training session procedure (with a 1 h interval between sessions) if the number of attempted openings in MT (either the 3 h or 24 h test) is significantly fewer than in TS1 and not significantly greater than in TS2 (Lukowiak et al, 1998). When the single 0.5 h training session procedure is used, LTM is defined as the number of attempted openings in MT being significantly lower than in TS1 (Martens et al, 2007).…”

Juveniles ofLymnaeasmart snails do not perseverate and have the capacity to form LTM

“…Operational definition of learning and memory As previously described (Lukowiak et al, 2000;Martens et al, 2007), for one-session training, memory is defined as a significant reduction in the number of attempted pneumostome openings after training. That is, for LTM to be present, the number of attempted pneumostome openings in the MT session must be significantly less than in TS1.…”

Black tea differs from green tea: it suppresses long-term memory formation inLymnaea

“…The PW is made hypoxic by bubbling 100% N2 through 500 ml of PW in a 1l beaker for 20 min [17]. The TBT in normal PW is determined before and after a similar session in hypoxic BT.…”

“…Because we found that BT caused respiratory depression we first used a procedure previously employed [17] where we first measure TBT in a Pre-obs session and then measure TBT 24h after a single 0.5 h training session (i.e. the Post-obs session).…”