Elemental and Configural Learning and the Perception of Odorant Mixtures by the Spiny Lobster< i> Panulirus argus (original) (raw)
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One-trial associative learning modifies food odor preferences of a terrestrial mollusc
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 1981
We present evidence of rapid and reliable associative learning by the terrestrial mollusc, Limax maximus. Slugs were exposed once to a pairing ofa highly attractive food odor (potato or carrot) and a saturated solution of quinidine sulfate, a bitter-tasting plant substance. In comparison with control slugs, the exposed slugs subsequently displayed a markedly reduced preference for the odor paired with quinidine. This reduced odor preference was limited to the specific odor paired with quinidine and did not generalize to other food odors.
Journal of Experimental Biology, 2002
SUMMARYChemosensory neurons in the antennular flagella of lobsters mediate long-range responses to chemicals. These neurons are part of two parallel chemosensory pathways with different peripheral and central components. Aesthetasc sensilla on the lateral flagella are innervated by chemosensory neurons that project to the olfactory lobes. A diversity of other ‘non-aesthetasc’ sensilla on both lateral and medial flagella are innervated by mechano- and chemosensory neurons, and most of these non-aesthetasc neurons project to the lateral antennular neuropils. We investigated the roles of these two pathways in odor-associative learning and odor discrimination by selectively removing either aesthetasc or non-aesthetasc sensilla from the spiny lobster Panulirus argus. Lobsters lacking both aesthetasc and non-aesthetasc antennular sensilla show very reduced or no odor-mediated searching behavior. We associatively conditioned lobsters using two paradigms: aversive conditioning with generali...
The sensory basis of feeding behaviour in the Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus
A complex nervous system enables spiny lobsters to have a rich behavioural repertoire. The present paper discusses the ways in which the sensory systems of the Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus , particularly its chemosensory systems, are involved in feeding behaviour. It addresses the neural mechanisms of three aspects of their food-finding ability: detection, identification, and discrimination of natural food odours; the effect of learning on responses to food odours; the mechanisms by which spiny lobsters orient to odours from a distance under natural flow conditions. It demonstrates that the olfactory organ of spiny lobsters might use acrossneuron response patterns in discriminating odour quality; that the hedonic value of food can be modified by experience, including associative and nonassociative conditioning; that spiny lobsters can readily orient to distant odour sources; and that both chemo-and mechanosensory antennular input are important in this behaviour. Either aesthetasc or nonaesthetasc chemosensory pathways can be used in identifying odour quality, mediating learned behaviours, and permitting orientation to the source of distant odours. Studying the neuroethology of feeding behaviour helps us understand how spiny lobsters are adapted to living in complex and variable environments.
Learning & Memory, 1998
We compared behaviorally and physiologically the olfactory responses of slugs (Limax marginatus) that had been subjected to aversive, appetitive, or unpaired training with food odors (carrot or cucumber). In the aversive training, the slugs were exposed to the food odor as a conditioned stimulus (CS), and then quinidine sulfate solution as an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) was immediately applied to the lip of the slugs. This training caused a decrease in preference level for the CS. The unpaired training, in which the CS and the UCS were presented to the slugs with a 5-min interval, induced no change in the preference level for the CS. In the appetitive training, the slugs were allowed to eat the CS odor source without UCS application. When we used nonstarved slugs, it was found that the preference level for the CS increased upon the appetitive training. These results indicate that each training changed the preference for the odors in a characteristic manner. In the physiological exp...
An analysis of associative learning in a terrestrial mollusc
Journal of Comparative Physiology ? A, 1981
We have recently demonstrated that associative learning can play an important role in the regulation of food selection behavior of Limax maxirnus, a terrestrial mollusc. The tendency of Limax to approach a normally attractive odor generated by a food source such as carrot or potato can be markedly reduced if exposure to that odor is paired with exposure to a bitter taste (quinidine sulfate). We now report that variables known to influence associative learning by vertebrates (the operations of a secondorder conditioning procedure, blocking and US-preexposure) similarly influence associative learning by Limax.
Analysis of associative learning in the terrestrial mollusc Limax maximus. II. Appetitive learning
Journal of Comparative Physiology A, 1990
The odor and taste processing systems of the terrestrial mollusc Limax maximus have been shown capable of a number of complex computations. Most of the complex higher-order features of Limax learning have been demonstrated using differential aversive conditioning. The present experiments probe the appetitive learning ability of Limax. In the first experiment a differential appetitive classical conditioning procedure was used. An aversive CS + odor was paired with an attractive taste while a CS -odor was explicitly unpaired with the attractive taste. This appetitive conditioning procedure dramatically increased the preference for the CS + odor. Further experiments determined the time course of acquisition, the effect of an extinction procedure and long-term retention of the appetitive conditioning. Now that Limax has been shown capable of appetitive conditioning, the neural network simulation of Limax learning, called LIMAX, can be examined for its ability to display appetitive conditioning.
Olfactory conditioning in the zebrafish (Danio rerio)
Behavioural brain …, 2009
a b s t r a c t The zebrafish olfactory system is an attractive model for studying neural processing of chemosensory information. Here we characterize zebrafish olfactory behaviors and their modification through learning, using an apparatus consisting of a circular flow-through tank that allows controlled administration of odorants. When exposed to the amino acids l-alanine and l-valine, naive zebrafish responded with appetitive swimming behavior, which we measured as the number of >90 • turns made during 30 s observation periods. Such appetitive responses were not observed when naive zebrafish were exposed to an unnatural odorant, phenylethyl alcohol (PEA). Repeated pairing of amino acids or PEA (conditioned stimuli, CS) with food flakes (unconditioned stimuli; UCS) increased odorant-evoked appetitive swimming behavior in all fish tested. The zebrafish also learned to restrict this behavior to the vicinity of a feeding ring, through which UCS were administered. When both nares were temporarily occluded, conditioned fish failed to respond to odorants, confirming that these behaviors were mediated by olfaction. These results represent the first demonstration of a classically conditioned appetitive response to a behaviorally neutral odorant in fish. Furthermore, they complement recent demonstrations of conditional place preferences in fish. By virtue of its robustness and simplicity, this method will be a useful tool for future research into the biological basis of olfactory learning in zebrafish.
Biological Bulletin, 1999
The rock crab, Cancer irroratus Say, uses chemically mediated learning in the search for food. Rock crabs are opportunistic benthic predators and scavengers. Observations indicate that although they eat a variety of items, they are more sensitive to, and prefer, odors of food items that they have been eating. We found that C. irroratus is more responsive to a familiar food source than to an unfamiliar one and can distinguish between the odors of two different prey after being fed one species for an extended time. Initial preferences for two mytilid bivalves, Mytilus edulis and Geukensia demissa, were determined in a Ymaze. Crabs were then fed only one of the mussel species for 28 days and retested, using sequential and simultaneous presentations, for their responses to familiar and unfamiliar prey odors. Crabs increased their responses to familiar prey odors, but not to unfamiliar odors. In foraging tests, crabs ate M. edulis more often regardless of the species to which they had been familiarized.
Better to be bimodal: the interaction of color and odor on learning and memory
Behavioral Ecology, 2007
Defended prey frequently advertise to potential predators using multimodal warning displays. Signaling through more than one sensory pathway may enhance the rate of avoidance learning and the memorability of these learned avoidances. If this is so, then mimetic insects would gain more protection from mimicking a multimodal rather than a monomodal model. Day-old domestic chicks (Gallus gallus domesticus) were used to examine whether a common insect warning odor (pyrazine) enhanced learning and memorability of yellow prey, a common warning color. Pyrazine increased the rate at which the chicks learned to avoid unpalatable yellow prey, and how well this learned avoidance was remembered after a 96-h interval. After 96 h, mimics of the multimodal prey were avoided, whereas mimics of the monomodal prey were not. In the absence of pyrazine, chicks generalized their learned avoidance of the unpalatable yellow prey to palatable green prey; however, the presence of pyrazine reduced this color generalization. These results suggest that much is to be gained from signaling multimodally, for both models and mimetic prey species. The presence of multimodal prey in the habitat may also advantage the predators as it allows it them to distinguish more easily between palatable and unpalatable prey.