Tesi di Dottorato

Permanent URI for this communityhttps://lisa.unical.it/handle/10955/10

Policy e regolamenti

Browse

Filters

2017 - 201912020 - 20211

Settings

Author: search.filters.author.Fiorito, GrazianoSubject: search.filters.subject.Octopus vulgaris

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Learning and memory in Octopus vulgaris: search of the underlying biological machinery
    (Università della Calabria, 2021-03-01) Manzo, Paolo; Cerra, Maria Carmela; Fiorito, Graziano
    The cephalopod mollusc Octopus vulgaris is known for the richness of behavioral repertoire, neural and behavioral plasticity, and complex cognition rivaling higher Vertebrates. Animals are known to learn over a variety of tasks, equipped with different sensory-motor systems, i.e. visual and tactile, and able to recall the outcomes of their experience for long term (e.g., ‘one month’ Sutherland, 1957; ‘some months’ Sanders, 1970). In the present study, a fear conditioning training protocol was adopted to evaluate O. vulgaris behavioral responses to an artificial stimulus to be avoided. Behavioral outcomes have been tested for the effect of a protein synthesis inhibitor on memory acquisition and retention, and for changes in the pattern of expression of genes potentially involved in memory formation. Applying the 3Rs principle, I used samples from a previous study, thus limiting the number or live animals humanely killed for the aims of this PhD project. My experiments and analysis allowed to: i. Identify that cycloheximide-induced protein synthesis inhibition did not alter the octopus ability to acquire an avoidance learning task. However, octopuses ability to retain and recall the memory was impaired; ii. Data available to me did not allow to rule out a state-dependent effect of cycloheximide injection that somehow affects memory recall and octopuses ability to learn; iii. Identify 24 target genes, nine memory-related genes and 15 epigenetic modifiers, from O. vulgaris transcriptome, and studied their gene expression profile in relation with learning and memory consolidation.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item