Abstract
The present study was conducted to provide evidence of conditioned taste aversion learning (CTA) in the snail Cornu aspersum, using quinidine as the aversive stimulus in a procedure of Pavlovian Conditioning of Tentacle Lowering. Subjects were split into two groups: paired and unpaired. During the devaluation phase, subjects from the “paired group” received the US followed by the quinidine exposure, while subjects from the “unpaired group” received the quinidine and, 30 min later, the US. Subjects which had received the US paired with the quinidine showed a decrease of the conditioned response (CR), in contrast to subjects which had received the quinidine and the US unpaired. These results provide a useful CTA procedure in terrestrial snails. The implication of the results for learning and the physiological correlates is discussed.
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Data availability
All data are available from the corresponding authors.
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Acknowledgements
We are very grateful to Guillermo Cárcaba and Iria Prieto for their participation; Dra. Clara Muñiz-Diez for her comments; and Pablo Rubio for his participation and comments. Also, we deeply thank Dr. Rodrigo Pérez Lorido for his review of the linguistic aspects of this manuscript.
Funding
This research was supported by Vicerrectorado de Investigación de la Universidad de Oviedo, ayudas pre-doctorales (Ref: PAPI-21-PF-26).
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There are no studies with human participants. The standards for laboratory animal protection form 2010/63/UE and RD53/2013 and all applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of invertebrates were followed.
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Muñiz Moreno, J., Loy, I. Taste aversion learning in the snail Cornu aspersum. Anim Cogn 26, 1097–1102 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-023-01760-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-023-01760-7