AUTHOR=Andrianov Vyatcheslav V. , Bogodvid Tatiana K. , Deryabina Irina B. , Golovchenko Aleksandra N. , Muranova Lyudmila N. , Tagirova Roza R. , Vinarskaya Aliya K. , Gainutdinov Khalil L. 

TITLE=Modulation of defensive reflex conditioning in snails by serotonin

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience

VOLUME=Volume 9 - 2015

YEAR=2015

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/behavioral-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00279

DOI=10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00279

ISSN=1662-5153

ABSTRACT=We studied the role of serotonin in the mechanisms of learning in terrestrial snails. To produce a serotonin deficit, the “neurotoxic” analogues of serotonin, 5,6- or 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine (5,6/5,7-DHT) were used. Injection of 5,6/5,7-DHT was found to disrupt defensive reflex conditioning. Within two weeks of neurotoxin application, the ability to learn had recovered. Daily injection of serotonin before a training session accelerated defensive reflex conditioning and daily injections of 5-HTP in snails with a deficiency of serotonin induced by 5,7-DHT restored the snail’s ability to learn. We discovered that injections of the neurotoxins 5,6/5,7-DHT as well as serotonin, caused a decrease in the resting and threshold potentials of the premotor interneurons LPa3 and RPa3.