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First published online May 19, 2008
Journal of Experimental Biology 211, 1747-1756 (2008)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2008
doi: 10.1242/jeb.014886
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Determining friend vs foe through sensory cues

The perception of stress alters adaptive behaviours in Lymnaea stagnalis

Ken Lukowiak*, Kara Martens, David Rosenegger, Kim Browning, Pascaline de Caigny and Mike Orr

Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2N 4N1

* Author for correspondence (e-mail: lukowiak{at}ucalgary.ca)

Accepted 12 February 2008

Summary

Stress can alter adaptive behaviours, and as well either enhance or diminish learning, memory formation and/or memory recall. We show here that two different stressors have the ability to alter such behaviours in our model system, Lymnaea stagnalis. One, a naturally occurring stressor – the scent of a predator (crayfish) – and the other an artificially controlled one – 25 mmoll–1 KCl – significantly alter adaptive behaviours. Both the KCl stressor and predator detection enhance long-term memory (LTM) formation; additionally predator detection alters vigilance behaviours. The predator-induced changes in behaviour are also accompanied by specific and significant alterations in the electrophysiological properties of RPeD1 – a key neuron in mediating both vigilance behaviours and memory formation. Naive lab-bred snails exposed to crayfish effluent (CE; i.e. the scent of the predator) prior to recording from RPeD1 demonstrated both a significantly reduced spontaneous firing rate and fewer bouts of bursting activity compared with non-exposed snails. Importantly, in the CE experiments we used laboratory-reared snails that have not been exposed to a naturally occurring predator for over 250 generations. These data open a new avenue of research, which may allow a direct investigation from the behavioral to the neuronal level as to how relevant stressful stimuli alter adaptive behaviours, including memory formation and recall.

Key words: Lymnaea, instinct, aerial respiration, long-term memory, crayfish predator, vigilance behaviours


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