Does conditioned taste aversion learning in the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis produce conditioned fear?

Different stressors uniquely affect the expression of endocannabinoid-metabolizing enzymes in the central ring ganglia of Lymnaea stagnalis

The endocannabinoid system (ECS) plays an important role in neuroprotection, neuroplasticity, energy balance, modulation of stress, and inflammatory responses, acting as a critical link between the brain and the body's peripheral regions, while also offering promising potential for novel therapeutic strategies. Unfortunately, in humans, pharmacological inhibitors of different ECS enzymes have led to mixed results in both preclinical and clinical studies. As the ECS has been highly conserved throughout the eukaryotic lineage, the use of invertebrate model organisms like the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis may provide a flexible tool to unravel unexplored functions of the ECS at the cellular, synaptic, and behavioral levels. In this study, starting from the available genome and transcriptome of L. stagnalis, we first identified putative transcripts of all ECS enzymes containing an open reading frame. Each predicted protein possessed a high degree of sequence conservation to known orthologues of other invertebrate and vertebrate organisms. Sequences were confirmed by qualitative PCR and sequencing. Then, we investigated the transcriptional effects induced by different stress conditions (i.e., bacterial LPS injection, predator scent, food deprivation, and acute heat shock) on the expression levels of the enzymes of the ECS in Lymnaea's central ring ganglia. Our results suggest that in Lymnaea as in rodents, the ECS is involved in mediating inflammatory and anxiety-like responses, promoting energy balance, and responding to acute stressors. To our knowledge, this study offers the most comprehensive analysis so far of the ECS in an invertebrate model organism.

Behavioral and transcriptional effects of carnosine in the central ring ganglia of the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis

Carnosine is a naturally occurring endogenous dipeptide with well-recognized anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and neuroprotective effects at the central nervous system level. To date, very few studies have been focused on the ability of carnosine to rescue and/or enhance memory. Here, we used a well-known invertebrate model system, the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis, and a well-studied associative learning procedure, operant conditioning of aerial respiration, to investigate the ability of carnosine to enhance long-term memory (LTM) formation and reverse memory obstruction caused by an immune challenge (i.e., lipopolysaccharide [LPS] injection). Exposing snails to 1 mM carnosine for 1 h before training in addition to enhancing memory formation resulted in a significant upregulation of the expression levels of key neuroplasticity genes (i.e., glutamate ionotropic receptor N-methyl-d-aspartate [NMDA]-type subunit 1-LymGRIN1, and the transcription factor cAMP-response element-binding protein 1-LymCREB1) in snails' central ring ganglia. Moreover, pre-exposure to 1 mM carnosine before an LPS injection reversed the memory deficit brought about by inflammation, by preventing the upregulation of key targets for immune and stress response (i.e., Toll-like receptor 4-LymTLR4, molluscan defense molecule-LymMDM, heat shock protein 70-LymHSP70). Our data are thus consistent with the hypothesis that carnosine can have positive benefits on cognitive ability and be able to reverse memory aversive states induced by neuroinflammation.

Invertebrates as models of learning and memory: investigating neural and molecular mechanisms

In this Commentary, we shed light on the use of invertebrates as model organisms for understanding the causal and conserved mechanisms of learning and memory. We provide a condensed chronicle of the contribution offered by mollusks to the studies on how and where the nervous system encodes and stores memory and describe the rich cognitive capabilities of some insect species, including attention and concept learning. We also discuss the use of planarians for investigating the dynamics of memory during brain regeneration and highlight the role of stressful stimuli in forming memories. Furthermore, we focus on the increasing evidence that invertebrates display some forms of emotions, which provides new opportunities for unveiling the neural and molecular mechanisms underlying the complex interaction between stress, emotions and cognition. In doing so, we highlight experimental challenges and suggest future directions that we expect the field to take in the coming years, particularly regarding what we, as humans, need to know for preventing and/or delaying memory loss. This article has an associated ECR Spotlight interview with Veronica Rivi.

What can we teach Lymnaea and what can Lymnaea teach us?

This review describes the advantages of adopting a molluscan complementary model, the freshwater snail Lymnaea stagnalis, to study the neural basis of learning and memory in appetitive and avoidance classical conditioning; as well as operant conditioning of its aerial respiratory and escape behaviour. We firstly explored 'what we can teach Lymnaea' by discussing a variety of sensitive, solid, easily reproducible and simple behavioural tests that have been used to uncover the memory abilities of this model system. Answering this question will allow us to open new frontiers in neuroscience and behavioural research to enhance our understanding of how the nervous system mediates learning and memory. In fact, from a translational perspective, Lymnaea and its nervous system can help to understand the neural transformation pathways from behavioural output to sensory coding in more complex systems like the mammalian brain. Moving on to the second question: 'what can Lymnaea teach us?', it is now known that Lymnaea shares important associative learning characteristics with vertebrates, including stimulus generalization, generalization of extinction and discriminative learning, opening the possibility to use snails as animal models for neuroscience translational research.

Evidence of anticipatory immune and hormonal responses to predation risk in an echinoderm

Recent efforts have been devoted to the link between responses to non-physical stressors and immune states in animals, mostly using human and other vertebrate models. Despite evolutionary relevance, comparatively limited work on the appraisal of predation risk and aspects of cognitive ecology and ecoimmunology has been carried out in non-chordate animals. The present study explored the capacity of holothuroid echinoderms to display an immune response to both reactive and anticipatory predatory stressors. Experimental trials and a mix of behavioural, cellular and hormonal markers were used, with a focus on coelomocytes (analogues of mammalian leukocytes), which are the main components of the echinoderm innate immunity. Findings suggest that holothuroids can not only appraise threatening cues (i.e. scent of a predator or alarm signals from injured conspecifics) but prepare themselves immunologically, presumably to cope more efficiently with potential future injuries. The responses share features with recently defined central emotional states and wane after prolonged stress in a manner akin to habituation, which are traits that have rarely been shown in non-vertebrates, and never in echinoderms. Because echinoderms sit alongside chordates in the deuterostome clade, such findings offer unique insights into the adaptive value and evolution of stress responses in animals.

Monoamines, Insulin and the Roles They Play in Associative Learning in Pond Snails

Molluscan gastropods have long been used for studying the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying learning and memory. One such gastropod, the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis, exhibits long-term memory (LTM) following both classical and operant conditioning. Using Lymnaea, we have successfully elucidated cellular mechanisms of learning and memory utilizing an aversive classical conditioning procedure, conditioned taste aversion (CTA). Here, we present the behavioral changes following CTA training and show that the memory score depends on the duration of food deprivation. Then, we describe the relationship between the memory scores and the monoamine contents of the central nervous system (CNS). A comparison of learning capability in two different strains of Lymnaea, as well as the filial 1 (F1) cross from the two strains, presents how the memory scores are correlated in these populations with monoamine contents. Overall, when the memory scores are better, the monoamine contents of the CNS are lower. We also found that as the insulin content of the CNS decreases so does the monoamine contents which are correlated with higher memory scores. The present review deepens the relationship between monoamine and insulin contents with the memory score.

Studying emotion in invertebrates: what has been done, what can be measured and what they can provide

Until recently, whether invertebrates might exhibit emotions was unknown. This possibility has traditionally been dismissed by many as emotions are frequently defined with reference to human subjective experience, and invertebrates are often not considered to have the neural requirements for such sophisticated abilities. However, emotions are understood in humans and other vertebrates to be multifaceted brain states, comprising dissociable subjective, cognitive, behavioural and physiological components. In addition, accumulating literature is providing evidence of the impressive cognitive capacities and behavioural flexibility of invertebrates. Alongside these, within the past few years, a number of studies have adapted methods for assessing emotions in humans and other animals, to invertebrates, with intriguing results. Sea slugs, bees, crayfish, snails, crabs, flies and ants have all been shown to display various cognitive, behavioural and/or physiological phenomena that indicate internal states reminiscent of what we consider to be emotions. Given the limited neural architecture of many invertebrates, and the powerful tools available within invertebrate research, these results provide new opportunities for unveiling the neural mechanisms behind emotions and open new avenues towards the pharmacological manipulation of emotion and its genetic dissection, with advantages for disease research and therapeutic drug discovery. Here, we review the increasing evidence that invertebrates display some form of emotion, discuss the various methods used for assessing emotions in invertebrates and consider what can be garnered from further emotion research on invertebrates in terms of the evolution and underlying neural basis of emotion in a comparative context.

Function of insulin in snail brain in associative learning

Insulin is well known as a hormone regulating glucose homeostasis across phyla. Although there are insulin-independent mechanisms for glucose uptake in the mammalian brain, which had contributed to a perception of the brain as an insulin-insensitive organ for decades, the finding of insulin and its receptors in the brain revolutionized the concept of insulin signaling in the brain. However, insulin's role in brain functions, such as cognition, attention, and memory, remains unknown. Studies using invertebrates with their open blood-vascular system have the promise of promoting a better understanding of the role played by insulin in mediating/modulating cognitive functions. In this review, the relationship between insulin and its impact on long-term memory (LTM) is discussed particularly in snails. The pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis has the ability to undergo conditioned taste aversion (CTA), that is, it associatively learns and forms LTM not to respond with a feeding response to a food that normally elicits a robust feeding response. We show that molluscan insulin-related peptides are up-regulated in snails exhibiting CTA-LTM and play a key role in the causal neural basis of CTA-LTM. We also survey the relevant literature of the roles played by insulin in learning and memory in other phyla.

Effects of serotonin on the heartbeat of pond snails in a hunger state

Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine: 5-HT) is a multimodal transmitter that controls both feeding response and heartbeat in snails. However, the effects of 5-HT on the hunger state are still unknown. We therefore examined the relation among the hunger state, the heartbeat rate and the 5-HT action in food-starved snails. We found that the hunger state was significantly distinguished by the heartbeat rate in snails. The heartbeat rate was high in the food-satiated snails, whereas it was low in the food-starved snails. An increase in 5-HT concentration in the body boosted the heartbeat rate in the food-starved snails, but did not affect the rate in the food-satiated snails. These results suggest that 5-HT application may mimic the change from a starvation to a satiation state normally achieved by direct ingestion of food.

An increase in insulin is important for the acquisition conditioned taste aversion in Lymnaea

Conditioned taste aversion (CTA) in Lymnaea is brought about by pairing a sucrose solution (the conditioned stimulus, CS) with an electric shock (the unconditioned stimulus, US). Following repeated CS-US pairings, CTA occurs and it is consolidated into long-term memory (LTM). The best CTA is achieved, if snails are food-deprived for 1 day before training commences. With a longer period of food deprivation (5 days), learning and memory formation does not occur. It has been hypothesized that the levels of insulin in the central nervous system (CNS) are very important for CTA to occur. To test his hypothesis, we injected insulin directly into 5-day food-deprived snails. The injection of insulin, as expected, resulted in a decrease in hemolymph glucose concentration. Consistent with our hypothesis with insulin injection, learning and memory formation of CTA occurred. That is, the 'insulin spike' is more important than an increase in hemolymph glucose concentration for CTA-LTM. If we injected an insulin receptor antibody into the snails before the insulin injection, learning was formed but memory formation was not, which is consistent with our previous study. Therefore, a rise in the insulin concentration (i.e., insulin spike) in the CNS is considered to be a key determining factor in the process of CTA-LTM.

Illness-dependent conditioned prey avoidance in an amphibian

Conditioned taste avoidance (CTA) helps prevent consumption of dangerous foods. It results from the pairing of a novel food or taste with subsequent aversive consequences, such as illness. Previous studies of CTA in amphibians have produced conflicting results. Establishing the presence or absence of CTA in amphibians is needed to clarify the phylogeny of this phenomenon. This experiment evaluated the ability of the fire-bellied toad Bombina orientalis to avoid a novel food item previously paired with subsequent illness or unpalatable taste. Mealworms, a novel prey item for the subjects, were coated with a solution of either 2% HCl or 3% CuSO4 to make them unpalatable or nauseating, respectively. Lengthy and obvious signs of illness such as face wiping and retching followed the consumption of mealworms coated with CuSO4, whereas consumption of mealworms coated with HCl only resulted in distinct and short lived aversive reactions at the time of consumption. The results showed that consumption of mealworms tainted with CuSO4, but not HCl, rapidly induced prey avoidance. This response was specific to mealworms; the usual food (crickets) was not avoided. The results suggest that CTA following illness is not restricted to amniote vertebrates.

From likes to dislikes: conditioned taste aversion in the great pond snail (Lymnaea stagnalis)

The neural circuitry comprising the central pattern generator (CPG) that drives feeding behavior in the great pond snail (Lymnaea stagnalis (L., 1758)) has been worked out. Because the feeding behavior undergoes associative learning and long-term memory (LTM) formation, it provides an excellent opportunity to study the causal neuronal mechanisms of these two processes. In this review, we explore some of the possible causal neuronal mechanisms of associative learning of conditioned taste aversion (CTA) and its subsequent consolidation processes into LTM in L. stagnalis. In the CTA training procedure, a sucrose solution, which evokes a feeding response, is used as the conditioned stimulus (CS) and a potassium chloride solution, which causes a withdrawal response, is used as the unconditioned stimulus (US). The pairing of the CS–US alters both the feeding response of the snail and the function of a pair of higher order interneurons in the cerebral ganglia. Following the acquisition of CTA, the polysynaptic inhibitory synaptic input from the higher order interneurons onto the feeding CPG neurons is enhanced, resulting in suppression of the feeding response. These changes in synaptic efficacy are thought to constitute a “memory trace” for CTA in L. stagnalis.

Consolidation of long-term memory by insulin in Lymnaea is not brought about by changing the number of insulin receptors

The pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis learns taste aversion and consolidates it into long-term memory (LTM). This is referred to as conditioned taste aversion (CTA). The superfusion of molluscan insulin-related peptides (MIPs) over the isolated snail brain causes a long-term enhancement of synaptic input between the cerebral giant cell and the B1 buccal motor neuron. This enhancement is hypothesized to underlie CTA. The synaptic enhancement caused by the superfusion of MIPs can be blocked by the application of human insulin receptor antibody, which recognizes the extracellular domain of human insulin receptor and acts as an antagonist even for MIP receptors. An injection of the human insulin receptor antibody into the abdominal cavity of trained snails blocks the consolidation process leading to LTM, even though the snails acquire taste aversion. Here, we examined whether or not taste-aversion training changes the mRNA expression level of MIP receptor in the snail brain and found that it does not. This result, taken together with previous findings, suggest that the MIPs’ effect on synaptic function in the snail brain is attributable to a change in the MIP concentration, and not to a change in the mRNA expression level of MIP receptor, which is thought to reflect the number of MIP receptors.

Increase in cyclic AMP concentration in a cerebral giant interneuron mimics part of a memory trace for conditioned taste aversion of the pond snail

Conditioned taste aversion (CTA) can be classically conditioned in the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis and subsequently be consolidated into long-term memory (LTM). The neural trace that subserves CTA-LTM can be summarized as follows: A polysynaptic inhibitory postsynaptic potential recorded in the neuron 1 medial (N1M) cell in the conditioned snails as a result of activation of the cerebral giant cell (CGC) is larger and lasts longer than that in control snails. The N1M cell is ultimately activated by the CGC via the neuron 3 tonic (N3t) cell. That is, the inhibitory monosynaptic inputs from the N3t cell to the N1M cell are facilitated. The N1M and N3t cells are the members of feeding central pattern generator, whereas the CGC is a multimodal interneuron thought to play a key role in feeding behavior. Here we examined the involvement of a second messenger, cAMP, in the establishment of the memory trace. We injected cAMP into the CGC and monitored the potentials of the B3 motor neuron activated by the CGC. B3 activity is used as an index for the synaptic inputs from the N3t cell to the N1M cell. We found that the B3 potentials were transiently enlarged. Thus, when the cAMP concentration is increased in the CGC by taste aversion training, cAMP-induced changes may play a key role in the establishment of a memory trace in the N3t cell.

Memory trace in feeding neural circuitry underlying conditioned taste aversion in Lymnaea

BACKGROUND

The pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis can maintain a conditioned taste aversion (CTA) as a long-term memory. Previous studies have shown that the inhibitory postsynaptic potential (IPSP) evoked in the neuron 1 medial (N1M) cell by activation of the cerebral giant cell (CGC) in taste aversion-trained snails was larger and lasted longer than that in control snails. The N1M cell is one of the interneurons in the feeding central pattern generator (CPG), and the CGC is a key regulatory neuron for the feeding CPG.

METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPLE FINDINGS

Previous studies have suggested that the neural circuit between the CGC and the N1M cell consists of two synaptic connections: (1) the excitatory connection from the CGC to the neuron 3 tonic (N3t) cell and (2) the inhibitory connection from the N3t cell to the N1M cell. However, because the N3t cell is too small to access consistently by electrophysiological methods, in the present study the synaptic inputs from the CGC to the N3t cell and those from the N3t cell to the N1M cell were monitored as the monosynaptic excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) recorded in the large B1 and B3 motor neurons, respectively. The evoked monosynaptic EPSPs of the B1 motor neurons in the brains isolated from the taste aversion-trained snails were identical to those in the control snails, whereas the spontaneous monosynaptic EPSPs of the B3 motor neurons were significantly enlarged.

CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE

These results suggest that, after taste aversion training, the monosynaptic inputs from the N3t cell to the following neurons including the N1M cell are specifically facilitated. That is, one of the memory traces for taste aversion remains as an increase in neurotransmitter released from the N3t cell. We thus conclude that the N3t cell suppresses the N1M cell in the feeding CPG, in response to the conditioned stimulus in Lymnaea CTA.