CGC Bibliography Paper 5469

Serotonin mediates food-odor associative learning in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.

Nuttley WM, Atkinson-Leadbeater KP, van der Kooy D

Medline:
12202746
Citation:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 99: 12449-12454 2002
Type:
ARTICLE
Genes:
cat-4 odr-1 tph-1
Abstract:
We demonstrate that Caenorhabditis elegans is able to form an association between the presence of the odorant benzaldehyde and the food content of its environment. When exposed to 100% benzaldehyde for 1 h in the absence of food the naive attractive response is reduced, and we have found that this olfactory adaptation is attenuated by the presence of food. Contrary to nonassociative (single stimulus) learning theory, this response is not a function of the total time of exposure to benzaldehyde but rather an associative function of the ability of benzaldehyde to predict a nutrient-deficient environment. Genetic and pharmacological evidence revealed that the effects of food in this learning paradigm are mediated by serotonergic signaling.