Understanding how we learn and remember, a fundamental goal of basic research, has been greatly enriched by the study of behavioral sensitization in the marine snail Aplysia californica. Sensitization refers to the observation that a noxious stimulus may result in an increased likelihood of performing defensive behaviors. Four decades of experiments in Aplysia have unveiled a vast landscape of knowledge about sensitization, ranging from behavioral to molecular levels. Earlier research by the PI and colleagues established an evolutionary history of neural mechanisms of sensitization in related sea hares, but knowledge of the ecological basis of this evolution is completely lacking. The PI and his undergraduate colleagues will explore the hypothesis that sensitization benefits a survivor of a predatory attack by decreasing its risk of subsequent attack. Their pilot experiments demonstrated that attacks by two different co-occurring predators cause sensitization with distinct anatomical and temporal differences, suggesting specific anti-predator strategies. This research will further explore these learning differences, will analyze their neuronal basis using conventional nerve cell recording techniques, and will identify other ecologically relevant behavioral changes, (e.g., locomotion, movement toward light) following sub-lethal predator attack. This research will thus provide a uniquely integrative ecological picture of sensitization in Aplysia. The PI has extensive experience with all proposed methods, including coordination of a group of undergraduates to execute them. This proposal represents a rare opportunity for 15-20 undergraduates (across 3 years) to do full-time summer research on a question with fully publishable answers. The students will perform experiments, analyze data, present results at national meetings, and publish in peer-reviewed journals. Field observations and experiments by additional students in an upper level Marine Biology (Biol440) course will be directly integrated into this research.
