Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience (Oct 2015)

MODULATION OF DEFENSIVE REFLEX CONDITIONING IN SNAILS BY SEROTONIN

  • Vyatcheslav V Andrianov,
  • Vyatcheslav V Andrianov,
  • Tatiana Kh Bogodvid,
  • Tatiana Kh Bogodvid,
  • Irina B Deryabina,
  • Aleksandra N Golovchenko,
  • Lyudmila N Muranova,
  • Roza R Tagirova,
  • Alia Kh Vinarskaya,
  • Khalil L Gainutdinov,
  • Khalil L Gainutdinov

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00279
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9

Abstract

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We studied the role of serotonin in the mechanisms of learning in terrestrial snails. To produce a serotonin deficit, the neurotoxic analogues of serotonin, 5,6- or 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine (5,6/5,7-DHT) were used. Injection of 5,6/5,7-DHT was found to disrupt defensive reflex conditioning. Within two weeks of neurotoxin application, the ability to learn had recovered. Daily injection of serotonin before a training session accelerated defensive reflex conditioning and daily injections of 5-HTP in snails with a deficiency of serotonin induced by 5,7-DHT restored the snail’s ability to learn. We discovered that injections of the neurotoxins 5,6/5,7-DHT as well as serotonin, caused a decrease in the resting and threshold potentials of the premotor interneurons LPa3 and RPa3.

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