Stressor-induced memory enhancement has previously been shown to involve DNA methylation in the mollusc Lymnaea stagnalis. Specifically, injection of the DNA methylation inhibitor 5-AZA one hour before exposure to a memory-enhancing stressor obstructs memory augmentation. However, the duration of the influence of 5-AZA on this memory enhancement has not yet been examined. In this study, 2 memor...

The search for 'the how and the where' of memory formation in the brain, the engram, is still one of the unattained 'Holy Grails' of neuroscience. Over the years, various paths have been trodden in attempts to attain this goal, and while tantalizing glimpses appear now and then on the scientific horizon, the Grail still has not been grasped. One of the paths that investigators have walked is th...

In this paper we compare the quality of three different principle component analysis (PCA) based methods to generate transfer functions for the 3D visualization of imaging spectroscopy data. We discuss three criteria for judging the quality of features in these visualizations. These criteria are used to interpret visualizations of features in the brain of the snail Lymnaea Stagnalis. We show th...

A generic modelling formalism is described for homeostatic dynamics in physiological systems. The method is particularly suited where the peripheral, physiological system itself is well-characterised, but the details of the central, regulatory component (the nervous and endocrine systems) have not necessarily been characterised in full detail. The method is applied to temperature regulation in ...

We experimentally manipulated nutrient input to a rocky intertidal community, using nutrient-diffusing flowerpots, to determine (i) whether nutrients limited intertidal productivity, (ii) how a large-scale oceanographic disturbance (an El Niño event) affected patterns of nutrient limitation, (iii) the relative impacts of molluscan grazers and nutrient limitation, and (iv) if responses to experi...

The osphradium of the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis was studied to determine the stimuli to which this organ responds. The following stimuli were tested: hypoxia, hypercapnia, a mixture of amino acids, a mixture of citralva and amyl acetate and a mixture of lyral, lilial and ethylvanillin. The mean nerve activity consistently increased with elevated PCO2, whereas hypoxia produced variable effect...

Lateralization of the brain has traditionally been considered a specialization that is confined to the vertebrates, but recent studies have revealed that a range of invertebrates also have a brain that is structurally asymmetric and/or each side performs a different set of functions. Here, we show that the precopulatory mating behaviour of the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis is lateralized. We pre...

Gaining insight into how natural trait variation is manifest in populations shaped by differential environmental factors is crucial to understanding the evolution, ecology and sensory biology of natural populations. We have demonstrated that lab-reared Lymnaea detect and respond to the scent of a crayfish predator with specific, appropriate anti-predator behavioral responses, including enhanced...