Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Oct;40(5):375-381.
doi: 10.2108/zs230032.

Genes Upregulated by Operant Conditioning of Escape Behavior in the Pond Snail Lymnaea stagnalis

Nozomi Chikamoto  1 , Kanta Fujimoto  1 , Junko Nakai  1 , Kengo Namiki  1 , Dai Hatakeyama  2 , Etsuro Ito  3
Affiliations

Genes Upregulated by Operant Conditioning of Escape Behavior in the Pond Snail Lymnaea stagnalis

Nozomi Chikamoto et al. Zoolog Sci. 2023 Oct.

Abstract

The pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis is capable of learning by both classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Although operant conditioning related to escape behavior with punishment has been examined by some research groups, the molecular mechanisms are not known. In the present study, we examined changes in the expression levels of cAMP-response element binding protein 1 (CREB1), CREB2, CREB-binding protein (CBP), and monoamine oxidase (MAO) in the Lymnaea central nervous system (CNS) using real-time PCR following operant conditioning of escape behavior. CREB1 and CREB2 are transcription factors involved in long-term memory in Lymnaea; CBP is a coactivator with CREB1; and MAO is a degrading enzyme for monoamines (e.g., serotonin) with important roles in learning and memory in Lymnaea. In operant conditioning, the punishment cohort, in which snails escaping from the container encountered aversive KCl, exhibited significantly fewer escape attempts than the control cohort, in which snails escaping from the container encountered distilled water, during both the training and memory test periods. After the operant conditioning, CREB1 and CREB2 were upregulated, and the ratio of CREB1/CREB2 was also increased, suggesting that the operant conditioning of escape behavior involves these factors. MAO was also upregulated, suggesting that the content of monoamines such as serotonin in the CNS decreased. The upregulated genes identified in the present study will help to further elucidate learning and memory mechanisms in Lymnaea.

Keywords: CBP; CREB; Lymnaea; MAO; escape behavior; operant conditioning.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Aonuma H, Kaneda M, Hatakeyama D, Watanabe T, Lukowiak K, Ito E (2016) Relationship between the grades of a learned aversive-feeding response and the dopamine contents in Lymnaea. Biol Open 5: 1869–1873
    1. Aonuma H, Kaneda M, Hatakeyama D, Watanabe T, Lukowiak K, Ito E (2017) Weak involvement of octopamine in aversive taste learning in a snail. Neurobiol Learn Mem 141: 189–198
    1. Aonuma H, Totani Y, Sakakibara M, Lukowiak K, Ito E (2018a) Comparison of brain monoamine content in three populations of Lymnaea that correlates with taste-aversive learning ability. Biophys Physicobiol 15: 129–135
    1. Aonuma H, Totani Y, Kaneda M, Nakamura R, Watanabe T, Hatakeyama D, et al. (2018b) Effects of 5-HT and insulin on learning and memory formation in food-deprived snails. Neurobiol Learn Mem 148: 20–29
    1. Bar-Am O, Amit T, Youdim MB, Weinreb O (2016) Neuroprotective and neurorestorative potential of propargylamine derivatives in ageing: Focus on mitochondrial targets. J Neural Transm 123: 125–135

LinkOut - more resources