FURTHER STUDIES ON AN ELECTRIC CORRELATE TO LEARNING . EXPERIMENTS IN AN ISOLATED INSECT GANGLION

Leg position learning described by other authors was confirmed in the metathoracic preparation of Blatta orientalis, and new data on this learning behavior were obtained. The learnt reaction persists for about 30 min after training, without reinforcement. Touch perception does not modify the avoiding reaction due to an association between electrical shocks and propioception. During training, an increase of probability of transmission at synapses of a motor pathway occurs at the metathoracic ganglion. Comparing the features of post-tetanic effect, leg position learning and equilibrium learning, it is suggested that they could correspond to three successive stages of the same basic memory process. © 1969.