A Behavioral Analysis of Habituation within Simple Invertebrate Nervous Systems
Date
2010-05-03
Authors
Gorman, Amara A.
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Houghton University
Abstract
Lockery, Rawlins, and Gray's (1985) study indicated that (a) habituation and dishabituation were elicited in the shortening reflex of the medicinal leech by photic and electrical stimulation, and that (b) the neural mechanisms that underlie behavioral responses, parallels behaviors of the gill-withdrawal reflex in Aplysia calif arnica. However, Kristan et al. (1982) and Debski and Friesen's (1985) studies suggest that a swimming response can be elicited by electrical stimulation to the specific region of the leech. Similar to studies of Aplysia cal~rarnica, the leech demonstrates nonassociative learning, including habituation and sensitization, through a variety of behavioral responses. Thus, the present study replicated Kristan, McGirr, and Simpson's (1982) and Debski and Friesen's (1985) research, to demonstrate (a) habituation and (b) a swimming response as a result of electrical stimulation to the posterior area of the leech. As expected, a swimming response was elicited when stimulus were presented to the posterior region. However, habituation did not occur.
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