Discovery: Memories transferred between worms via ground up body parts

[SelfSim]

Scientists discover a mechanism for memory transfer between individuals in C. elegans:

"We found that one worm can learn to avoid this pathogenic bacterium and if we grind up that worm, or even just use the media the worms are swimming in, and give that media or the crushed-worm lysate to naive worms, those worms now 'learn' to avoid the pathogen as well," explains Murphy.

.. with behavioural changes resulting in the worms 'consuming' those memories .. and also in up to four generations of their offspring:

This finding suggests that worms secrete some signal that, when picked up by other worms, can modify their behavior. Interestingly, the progeny of worms "educated" by receipt of this signal also avoid pathogenic P. aeruginosa for the following four generations. This suggests that the secreted signal touches off the same learning pathway in recipient worms as in those directly exposed to the pathogen. Murphy's group sought to identify the secreted signal.

Maybe we'll have to reconsider that cannibalism thing again(?)

The conclusion:

"This is another intriguing episode in a growing number of studies that have implicated systemic RNA signals in influencing behavior transgenerationally, and if this study is correct, now even horizontally."

 

[SkyWriting]

Scientists discover a mechanism for memory transfer between individuals in C. elegans:

.. with behavioural changes resulting in the worms 'consuming' those memories .. and also in up to four generations of their offspring:
Maybe we'll have to reconsider that cannibalism thing again(?)

The conclusion:

My sister and I just talked about this today. She said one of her mentally challenged patients said
"It smells like Elly" When asked he repeated it twice, my sister not understanding.
He is from the big city and he was saying it smelled like an alleyway near his house.
Where people urinated evidently. It's really no different from this worm story.
Some neighborhoods and people stink and you could become aware of the neighborhood
from the people or the alley itself.

And the "Memory" reference is all hoax. Clickbait. Who would pay for "Stink" research? But memory research? WOW!

 

[keith99]

The title of this thread is quite misleading. The memory transfer has been know at least since when I was in college in the 70's.

This recent discovery is figuring out just how it happens.

 

[FrumiousBandersnatch]

I heard an interesting podcast not so long ago, where a researcher was describing a memory mechanism that involved structural changes to proteins in the cell membrane of very simple creatures.

We know there are different memory mechanisms within the vertebrate brain; it would not be surprising to me if there were other lower-level (e.g. cellular) mechanisms, particularly in creatures with simple nervous systems or none at all.

 

[SelfSim]

I heard an interesting podcast not so long ago, where a researcher was describing a memory mechanism that involved structural changes to proteins in the cell membrane of very simple creatures.

We know there are different memory mechanisms within the vertebrate brain; it would not be surprising to me if there were other lower-level (e.g. cellular) mechanisms, particularly in creatures with simple nervous systems or none at all.

Self-similarity at many scales .. not really so surprising amidst Complexity, eh?

 

[tas8831]

The title of this thread is quite misleading. The memory transfer has been know at least since when I was in college in the 70's.

This recent discovery is figuring out just how it happens.

I remember reading something about the brains of rats trained to run a maze being fed to other rats that had never seen the maze, and the brain-fed rats were able to run the maze first try. Don't recall the source, whether it was legitimate or not - does that sound similar to what you're familiar with?

 

[FrumiousBandersnatch]

Self-similarity at many scales .. not really so surprising amidst Complexity, eh?

Abstract functional self-similarity... Memory is an extremely useful tool - it's a feature of all known living creatures in as much as they're homeostatic and habituate their responses to stimuli. Evolution often implements advantageous traits in multiple ways.

 

[anna ~ grace]

“Soylent Green is people…”

 

[keith99]

I remember reading something about the brains of rats trained to run a maze being fed to other rats that had never seen the maze, and the brain-fed rats were able to run the maze first try. Don't recall the source, whether it was legitimate or not - does that sound similar to what you're familiar with?

It sounds familiar. I think the version you gave is exagerated. E.g. that fed rats did better than others not fed brains, not instant perfection.

 

[tas8831]

It sounds familiar. I think the version you gave is exagerated. E.g. that fed rats did better than others not fed brains, not instant perfection.

Right, I had considered re-writing my post to make that part of it but I figured... eh.. its the internet.