Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Whole Body Regeneration

Whole Body Regeneration

Regeneration is the process of restoring injured or lost tissues, organs, or body parts. While simpler organisms generally show greater ability to regenerate their whole body, few complex animals show similarly exceptional regeneration. For example, planarian flatworms have a unique regenerative potential making them a popular study organism among biologists to understand the mechanisms of whole body regeneration. Other organisms, such as hydra, also show extreme regeneration potential; even...

Competition

Competition

When organisms require the same limited resources within an environment, they may have to compete for them. Competition is a net-negative interaction. Even if two competing individuals or populations do not interact directly, the overall fitness of both competitors is lowered as a result of not having full access to the limited resource.

Microbial Interactions: Competition

Microbial Interactions: Competition

Microbial competition is an ecological interaction in which microorganisms vie for limited resources within shared environments. These resources may include nutrients, space, or light, depending on the system. The intensity and outcome of competition are influenced by the environmental context, such as nutrient availability, spatial constraints, and the diversity of microbial species present. These competitive interactions significantly influence the structure, function, and resilience of...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Three-Dimensional Radiation Therapy Target Volume Definitions for Osteoarthritis-Consensus Statement of the International Benign Target Volume Group.

International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics·2026

Same author

Extinction, spontaneous recovery and ABA renewal of Pavlovian conditioning in the cricket Gryllus bimaculatus.

The Journal of experimental biology·2026

Same author

The Role of Dopamine Signaling and Neuroinflammation in Age-Related Cognitive Dysfunction.

Brain and behavior·2026

Same author

Frontiers of redox biology.

Nature chemical biology·2026

Same author

Investigation of varenicline and tropisetron in latent inhibition and novel object recognition in mice.

Scientific reports·2026

Same author

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Examining Sex Differences in Mental Rotation Ability.

Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006)·2026

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 18, 2026

Planarian Scrunching as a Quantitative Behavioral Readout for Noxious Stimuli Sensing

Planarian Scrunching as a Quantitative Behavioral Readout for Noxious Stimuli Sensing

Published on: July 30, 2020

Cue competition effects in the planarian.

Jose Prados¹, Beatriz Alvarez, Joanna Howarth

¹School of Psychology, University of Leicester, Lancaster Road, Leicester, LE1 9HN, UK. jpg19@le.ac.uk

Animal Cognition

|September 15, 2012

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Planarian worms (Dugesia tigrina) demonstrate basic learning through Pavlovian conditioning. They exhibit cue competition effects like overshadowing and blocking, suggesting conserved learning principles across diverse animal phyla.

More Related Videos

Planarian Immobilization, Partial Irradiation, and Tissue Transplantation

Planarian Immobilization, Partial Irradiation, and Tissue Transplantation

Published on: August 6, 2012

Planarian as an Animal Model for Experimental Acute Seizure

Planarian as an Animal Model for Experimental Acute Seizure

Published on: February 14, 2025

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 18, 2026

Planarian Scrunching as a Quantitative Behavioral Readout for Noxious Stimuli Sensing

Planarian Scrunching as a Quantitative Behavioral Readout for Noxious Stimuli Sensing

Published on: July 30, 2020

Planarian Immobilization, Partial Irradiation, and Tissue Transplantation

Planarian Immobilization, Partial Irradiation, and Tissue Transplantation

Published on: August 6, 2012

Planarian as an Animal Model for Experimental Acute Seizure

Planarian as an Animal Model for Experimental Acute Seizure

Published on: February 14, 2025

Area of Science:

* Neuroscience
* Animal Behavior
* Comparative Psychology

Background:

* Planarian worms (Dugesia tigrina) are simple invertebrates.
* Understanding their learning abilities provides insights into conserved cognitive mechanisms.
* Pavlovian conditioning paradigms are used to study associative learning.

Purpose of the Study:

* To investigate the learning capabilities of planarian worms using Pavlovian conditioning.
* To determine if planaria exhibit cue competition phenomena such as overshadowing and blocking.
* To explore the evolutionary basis of learning principles across different animal phyla.

Main Methods:

* Planarians were subjected to Pavlovian conditioning paradigms involving light and vibration stimuli paired with electric shocks.
* Experiment 1: Assessed basic conditioning to a luminance change.
* Experiment 2 & 3: Investigated cue competition effects (overshadowing and blocking) using compound stimuli and pre-training.

Main Results:

* Planarians successfully learned a conditioned response to a luminance change paired with an electric shock.
* Overshadowing was observed, where a compound stimulus resulted in poorer conditioning of individual elements.
* Blocking occurred, demonstrating that pre-training one stimulus element hindered learning about a second element in a compound.

Conclusions:

* Planarian worms exhibit sophisticated associative learning, including cue competition effects.
* These findings suggest that fundamental learning principles are conserved across diverse animal phyla.
* The study supports an evolutionary-comparative approach to understanding learning mechanisms.