What did Eric Kandel discover?

His breakthrough came in 1970 while he was at New York University studying a marine snail with a simple nervous system. Kandel found that as the snail learned, chemical signals changed the structure of the connections between cells, known as synapses, where the signals are sent and received.

What was the purpose of Eric Kandel’s studies with Aplysia californica?

The behavioural modification of the Aplysia’s siphon-withdrawal reflex has been a particularly useful focus of research. In the 1960s, James Schwartz and Eric Kandel embarked on a research program seeking to establish the biochemical and neuroanatomical basis of learning and memory.

How did Eric Kandel classically condition the animal?

Kandel and colleagues used preparations of Aplysia californica where individuals were restrained in small aquariums in a manner that the gill was exposed. A tactile stimulus was administered to the siphon and elicited the gill and siphon withdrawal reflex.

What is the Aplysia study?

The reflexes of a sea slug known as Aplysia are often used to study memory because it has a simple nervous system in which individual sensory neurons (which detect changes) only form synapses with single motor neurons (which control muscles).

What is Aplysia neuroscience?

Aplysia californica is used in neuroscience research for studies of the cellular basis of behavior including: habituation, dishabituation, and sensitization, because of the simplicity and relatively large size of the underlying neural circuitry.

What unusual brains tell us about ourselves?

Nobel Prize recipient Eric R. Kandel investigates The Disordered Mind to uncover what brain disorders reveal about human nature. This challenging study will not only help transform medical care but also encourage a new humanism based in part on the biological confirmation of individuality.