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Memory phases in Drosophila

Abstract

MEMORY in many organisms can be disrupted by anaesthesia or electroconvulsive shock applied shortly after training. Later, if left undisturbed, the memory becomes immune to these agents. This suggests that learned information is stored by the brain in more than one form1–4. A population of Drosophila melanogaster can be trained to avoid an odorant by presenting the odour in combination with electric shock. When tested later without shock, the flies avoid this odorant specifically (ref. 5 and unpublished results of Y.D.). By anaesthetising the flies briefly with cold at various times between training and testing, we have found two memory components in Drosophila.

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QUINN, W., DUDAI, Y. Memory phases in Drosophila. Nature 262, 576–577 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1038/262576a0

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