The worm/stomach turns
July 11, 2011 3:00 PM Subscribe
Help me find out if this slightly repulsive experiment featuring nematode worms is real or my vile imagination running wild.
I've read a few popular science books on biology, and I have no idea where I'm remembering this from. If it's real and not my twisted mind, then it strikes me it should be important, but I can't find it online.
The experiment involved teaching nematode worms how to get through a maze through trial and error. Once it had learned how, the nematode worm is then chopped up and fed to another worm. This newly-fed worm can then find its way easily through the maze, as if the learning had passed through eating the first worm.
Did I dream this? Or was this an actual experiment?
I've read a few popular science books on biology, and I have no idea where I'm remembering this from. If it's real and not my twisted mind, then it strikes me it should be important, but I can't find it online.
The experiment involved teaching nematode worms how to get through a maze through trial and error. Once it had learned how, the nematode worm is then chopped up and fed to another worm. This newly-fed worm can then find its way easily through the maze, as if the learning had passed through eating the first worm.
Did I dream this? Or was this an actual experiment?
The abstract in this journal article suggests it is true (it used flatworms, not nematodes).
posted by exogenous at 3:05 PM on July 11, 2011
posted by exogenous at 3:05 PM on July 11, 2011
I remember reading about the same experiment (with Planaria) back in the 70's. It was in a book, so I always assumed it was true.I doubt that it was a school textbook, though.
posted by bonobothegreat at 3:14 PM on July 11, 2011
posted by bonobothegreat at 3:14 PM on July 11, 2011
Best answer: The experiment(s) definitely happened. There were even some follow-up studies using rats. Most of the experiments failed to replicate the results. Subsequent work has completely invalided the chemical theory of memory. It is now regarded as merely a strange historical footnote.
posted by dephlogisticated at 6:20 PM on July 11, 2011
posted by dephlogisticated at 6:20 PM on July 11, 2011
And um, not to bring the level of discourse here down, but the experiment is also mentioned in an issue of Swamp Thing early in Alan Moore's run. The Florian Man/Dr. Woodrue mentions it when theorizing about Swamp Thing's origin. That's where I'd first heard of it. And yeah, it's planarian worms.
posted by penduluum at 7:41 AM on July 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by penduluum at 7:41 AM on July 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: That's interesting, peduluum, because I did wonder if I'd read it in a comic rather than a pop science book - though I'd thought Grant Morrisson rathern than Alan Moore.
posted by liquidindian at 9:02 AM on July 12, 2011
posted by liquidindian at 9:02 AM on July 12, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by jessamyn at 3:02 PM on July 11, 2011 [1 favorite]