RRC ID 46013
Author Amano H, Maruyama IN.
Title Aversive olfactory learning and associative long-term memory in Caenorhabditis elegans.
Journal Learn Mem
Abstract The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) adult hermaphrodite has 302 invariant neurons and is suited for cellular and molecular studies on complex behaviors including learning and memory. Here, we have developed protocols for classical conditioning of worms with 1-propanol, as a conditioned stimulus (CS), and hydrochloride (HCl) (pH 4.0), as an unconditioned stimulus (US). Before the conditioning, worms were attracted to 1-propanol and avoided HCl in chemotaxis assay. In contrast, after massed or spaced training, worms were either not attracted at all to or repelled from 1-propanol on the assay plate. The memory after the spaced training was retained for 24 h, while the memory after the massed training was no longer observable within 3 h. Worms pretreated with transcription and translation inhibitors failed to form the memory by the spaced training, whereas the memory after the massed training was not significantly affected by the inhibitors and was sensitive to cold-shock anesthesia. Therefore, the memories after the spaced and massed trainings can be classified as long-term memory (LTM) and short-term/middle-term memory (STM/MTM), respectively. Consistently, like other organisms including Aplysia, Drosophila, and mice, C. elegans mutants defective in nmr-1 encoding an NMDA receptor subunit failed to form both LTM and STM/MTM, while mutations in crh-1 encoding the CREB transcription factor affected only the LTM.
Volume 18(10)
Pages 654-65
Published 2011-10-1
DOI 10.1101/lm.2224411
PII 18/10/654
PMID 21960709
PMC PMC3187929
MeSH Animals Animals, Genetically Modified Caenorhabditis elegans / physiology* Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / biosynthesis Conditioning, Classical Learning / physiology* Memory, Long-Term / physiology* Polymerase Chain Reaction Smell / physiology*
IF 2.359
Times Cited 37
WOS Category PSYCHOLOGY, EXPERIMENTAL NEUROSCIENCES
Resource
C.elegans tm2266 tm2351