Laboratory Use
Aplysia californica has become a valuable laboratory animal, used in studies of the neurobiology of learning and memory, and is especially associated with the work of Nobel Laureate Eric Kandel.
Its ubiquity in synaptic plasticity studies can be attributed to its simple nervous system, consisting of just 20,000 large, easily-identified neurons with cell bodies up to 1 mm in size. Despite its seemingly simple nervous system, however, Aplysia californica is capable of a variety of non-associative and associative learning tasks, including sensitization, habituation, and classical and operant conditioning. Study typically involves a reduced preparation of the gill and siphon withdrawal reflex.
Read more about this topic: California Sea Hare
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