Onset of amnesia is delayed with a decrease in inhibition of protein synthesis during odor-taste associative learning in the terrestrial slug Limax valentianus.

Abstract

Slugs can retain odor-taste associative memory for several weeks, and this requires protein synthesis. We examined the dose-dependency of the onset time of amnesia caused by the protein synthesis inhibitor anisomycin, and showed that with reduced dose, the onset is shifted from 2 days to 3 days after conditioning; we could not shift the onset delay later than 3 days. Our results suggest that the mechanism underling memory retention is different in the period up to 3 days, versus the period later than 3 days. Our results also suggest that sustained inhibition of protein synthesis in the period from zero to 3 hr after conditioning is necessary to cause amnesia.