Successful memory transplantation for snails

Transferring memories from one brain to another is something that is only found in fiction, but now American scientists have done that in a sea slug.

According to the BBC (UK), the results of this interesting study have just been published in the scientific journal eNeuro, providing new data for scientists studying the physical foundation of memory.

The sea slug used in American scientists' experiments (Photo: DAVID GLANZMAN).

Accordingly, the team was able to successfully transfer a memory of a sea ​​snail 's memory to another slug with the scientific name Aplysia californica by transferring RNA (ribonucleic acid, one of two). nucleic acid, is a molecular-level genetic basis from one animal to another.

A group of slugs is trained to have a conditional defense reflex that automatically shrinks the body when electrified. Later, when the RNA of this "trained" slug group was transferred to the "untrained" slug group, the latter group also automatically acquired the defensive reflex as the first group.

Specifically in this study, scientists found that the trained snail's defense time was 50 seconds, while the untrained ones were only about 1 second. The RNA implants had a 40-second reflex contraction time, though they had never undergone any training.

The team also found that there were similar effects when they were carried out with laboratory neurons.

Professor David Glanzman of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - one of the authors of the study, said that the result showed "as if we were able to transfer memories".