HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (8) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Hochner, B. Articles by Fiorito, G. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Hochner, B. Articles by Fiorito, G. Related Collections Neuroscience - Learning and Memory Behavior Molluscs Neuroscience Physiology

The Octopus: A Model for a Comparative Analysis of the Evolution of Learning and Memory Mechanisms

¹ Department of Neurobiology, Institute of Life Sciences and the Interdisciplinary Center for Neural Computation, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 91904 Israel
² Neurobiology Laboratory, Stazione Zoologica ‘Anton Dohrn’ Villa Comunale, I-80121 Naples, Italy

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: bennyh{at}lobster.ls.huji.ac.il

Comparative analysis of brain function in invertebrates with sophisticated behaviors, such as the octopus, may advance our understanding of the evolution of the neural processes that mediate complex behaviors. Until the last few years, this approach was infeasible due to the lack of neurophysiological tools for testing the neural circuits mediating learning and memory in the brains of octopus and other cephalopods. Now, for the first time, the adaptation of modern neurophysiological methods to the study of the central nervous system of the octopus allows this avenue of research. The emerging results suggest that a convergent evolutionary process has led to the selection of vertebrate-like neural organization and activity-dependent long-term synaptic plasticity. As octopuses and vertebrates are very remote phylogenetically, this convergence suggests the importance of the shared properties for the mediation of learning and memory.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R. Crook and J. Basil A biphasic memory curve in the chambered nautilus, Nautilus pompilius L. (Cephalopoda: Nautiloidea) J. Exp. Biol., June 15, 2008; 211(12): 1992 - 1998. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. L. Huffard Ethogram of Abdopus aculeatus (d'Orbigny, 1834) (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae): can behavioural characters inform octopodid taxomony and systematics? J. Mollus. Stud., July 5, 2007; (2007) eym015v1. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. L. McPhie and M. W. Miller Biological bulletin virtual symposium: marine invertebrate models of learning and memory. Biol. Bull., June 1, 2006; 210(3): 171 - 173. [Full Text] [PDF]