Open AccessMutations affect storage and use of memory differentially in Drosophila
Author(s) -
Yadin Dudai
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.80.17.5445
Subject(s) - drosophila (subgenus) , conditioning , mutant , neuroscience , olfactory memory , memory formation , biology , olfactory cues , task (project management) , genetics , psychology , olfaction , hippocampus , gene , central nervous system , statistics , olfactory bulb , mathematics , management , economics
The behavior of normalDrosophila and of X-linked olfactory conditioning mutants was analyzed by using an olfactory memory choice task. Memory in normal flies was optimal at 5-12 min after training and then decayed slowly. Memory in the mutants was 40-80% of normal when tested 30 sec after training but it decayed rapidly and was very low after 7 min. Successive conditioning experiments indicated that some types of mutants can behave as though they store information for a longer period than that revealed by straightforward memory tests, but this information reveals itself only by interaction with newly acquired information in a conflict situation. It thus seems that the mutations can either prevent the formation of normal memory or prevent memory from evoking a normal behavioral response.