SENSITIZATION IN APLYSIA - RESTORATION OF TRANSMISSION IN SYNAPSES INACTIVATED BY LONG-TERM HABITUATION

Long-term habituation of a simple withdrawal reflex in Aplysia leads to an inactivation of synaptic transmission between identified sensory and gill motor neurons that persists for more than 3 weeks. A single sensitizing stimulus rapidly reactivates both the depressed behavioral response and the inactivated synaptic transmission. Thus sensitization, a simple competitive form of learning, provides a mechanism whereby changing environmental demands can rapidly override the long-term memory of habituation. Copyright © 1979 AAAS.