3 ms·
The very interesting thing is that the catapillar’s experiences, on some level, are maintained into the butterfly stage—despite so much of the larva being disso
by beowulfey 3y ago
The very interesting thing is that the catapillar’s experiences, on some level, are maintained into the butterfly stage—despite so much of the larva being dissolved!
https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13412-butterflies-remember-caterpillar-experiences/ https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13412-butterflies-rem...
- mannyv 3y agoThere is no brain, yet the memories persist. Where are the memories if there is no brain?
- Khelavaster 3y agoIt's not technically "learning", it's cellular adaptation.
- 4gotunameagain 3y agoFrom what I gather, it is not known yet if the brain turns completely into soup. The micro CT scan of the pupa quoted in the article is not capable of imaging neuronal cells
- stevenwoo 3y agoThe details of this type of study (last time this was posted) state that certain caterpillar neurons must exist at a certain state of development, if the caterpillars are taught the aversion behavior too soon, the butterflies never retain the behavior so this is how they know that detail. Then only a percentage (IIRC < 70 percent) of the butterflies remember the behavior they learned as caterpillars. Here was a followup direct to a study with details and moths. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0001736 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal...