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Adaptive Evolution Of Learning And Memory In A Model Lineage, William G. Wright

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Books and Book Chapters

Although reductionistic studies of mechanisms of learning in a broad range of model species have advanced our understanding of neural mechanisms, our integrated understanding of mechanisms, behavior, ecology, and evolution of learning remains patchy. A more wholistic research approach in a model lineage of species related to the sea hare, Aplysia californica, has revealed a complete loss of mechanisms of sensitization in one sea-hare genus, Dolabrifera, with concomitant changes in its behavior and ecology. A partial loss of sensitization via different mechanisms in a sister genus, Phyllaplysia, provides further information for our evolving understanding of the evolution of learning …