Retention of an associative behavioral change in Hermissenda

The nudibranch mollusk Hermissenda crassicornis is normally attracted to a test light. Three days of training consisting of 50 trials per day of light paired with a rotational stimulus led to a significant increase, lasting for days, in the animal's response latency to enter a test light. The group that received light associated with rotation was significantly different from groups subjected to nonassociative control procedures. Modifications of well-known sensory networks may be related to a behavioral change that shares several operational features with associative learning.