Neuronal Substrates of Behavioral Hierarchies and Associative Learning inPleurobranchaea

Abstract

The carnivorous marine mollusc Pleurobranchaea californica exhibits two forms of behavioral plasticity: behavioral choice and associative learning. Behavioral choice is the selection of one behavioral act in preference to another, as dictated by a behavioral hierarchy. In Pleurobranchaea, feeding behavior occupies a relatively dominant position in the behavioral hierarchy, but feeding is hormonally suppressed during egg-laying. Associative learning has been demonstrated in Pleurobranchaea by means of classical and avoidance conditioning of the feeding behavior.