INVESTIGADORES
TOMSIC Daniel
artículos
Título:
Habituation to a danger stimulus in two semiterrestrial crabs. Ontogenic, ecological and opioid system correlates
Autor/es:
TOMSIC D., MASSONI V. AND MALDONADO H.
Revista:
JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY B-BIOCHEMICAL SYSTEMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL PHYSIOLOGY
Editorial:
SPRINGER HEIDELBERG
Referencias:
Año: 1993 vol. 173 p. 621 - 633
ISSN:
0174-1578
Resumen:
Previous research on the habituation of the
crab Chasmagnathus granulatus to an iterated visual
danger stimulus disclosed two remarkable features of
this mnemonic process: a) the ready acquisition and
long-lasting nature of the habituated response, and b)
the likely endogenous opioid modulation of the shortterm
habituation, whose potential adaptive value was
studied here. Both the habituation ability and the opioid
modulation of such ability were analysed in Chasmagnathus
granulatus and Pachygrapsus marmoratus, two
closely related grapsid species that diverge widely in ecology.
Results indicate that Chasmagnathus has a much
greater capacity to habituate than Pachygrapsus, showing
a more pronounced short-term habituation which
seems to some extent mediated by an endogenous opioid
mechanism, and a faster acquisition of a greater longterm
habituation partially mediated by memorial representation
of the contextual cues. A correlation between
these differences and those related with the ecological
pressure was discussed. The capacity of acquiring longterm
habituation in crabs of the same species but different
age was also assessed, showing that old animals
clearly exhibit lower retention of the habituated response
than young crabs. The possible correlation between this
age-dependent change and an ontogenetic shift of habitat
was discussed.