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Science 30 January 1981:
Vol. 211. no. 4481, pp. 504 - 506
DOI: 10.1126/science.7192881
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Articles

Science, Vol 211, Issue 4481, 504-506
Copyright © 1981 by American Association for the Advancement of Science

articles

Associative Learning in Aplysia: evidence for conditioned fear in an invertebrate

ET Walters, TJ Carew, and ER Kandel

Aversive classical conditioning of Aplysia californica, a gastropod mollusk suited for neurobiological study, produces a learned reaction to the chemosensory conditioned stimulus that is expressed as a marked facilitation of four defensive responses: two graded reflexes (head and siphon withdrawal), an all-or-none fixed act (inking), and a complex fixed action pattern (escape locomotion). In addition, the conditioned stimulus produces a concomitant depression of at least one appetitive response, feeding. These extensive and selective actions of the conditioned stimulus in Aplysia resemble the actions of conditioned fear stimuli in higher mammals and suggest that the functional equivalent of fear occurs in invertebrates and thus may be an adaptive mechanism that is widespread in the animal kingdom.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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Serotonergic Modulation in Aplysia. II. Cellular and Behavioral Consequences of Increased Serotonergic Tone.
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Multiple Serotonergic Mechanisms Contributing to Sensitization in Aplysia: Evidence of Diverse Serotonin Receptor Subtypes.
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Classical Conditioning of Feeding in Aplysia: II. Neurophysiological Correlates.
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Separate Effects of a Classical Conditioning Procedure on Respiratory Pumping, Swimming, and Inking in Aplysia fasciata.
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Role of interneurons in defensive withdrawal reflexes in Aplysia..
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Drives, Affects, Behavior-And Learning: Approaches to A Psychobiology of Emotion and to An Integration of Psychoanalytic and Neurobiology Thought.
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J Am Psychoanal Assoc 35, 467-506
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Differential classical conditioning of a defensive withdrawal reflex in Aplysia californica.
T. Carew, R. Hawkins, and E. Kandel (1983)
Science 219, 397-400
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Associative conditioning of single sensory neurons suggests a cellular mechanism for learning.
E. Walters and J. Byrne (1983)
Science 219, 405-408
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Molecular biology of learning: modulation of transmitter release.
E. Kandel and J. Schwartz (1982)
Science 218, 433-443
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Associative learning in Aplysia: cellular correlates supporting a conditioned fear hypothesis.
T. Carew, E. Walters, and E. Kandel (1981)
Science 211, 501-504
   Abstract »    PDF »


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