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Influence of the environment on the development of the tap-withdrawal circuit

University of British Columbia

The following experiments tested whether development of the nervous system underlying the tap-withdrawal response could be affected by environmental manipulations. These manipulations consisted of 2 different rearing conditions: 1) a normal colony condition among conspecifics and 2) in isolation. The isolated group showed a significantly smaller response to tap than did the group raised among conspecifics. Experiment 2 and 3 tested whether there was a sensitive period where manipulating environmental conditions would be most influential; results indicated that worms moved at the end of the second larval stage showed a significantly smaller response to tap than colony animals. Experiment tested whether simply moving colony raised animals at the end of one of the larval stages would produce smaller responses to tap; simply transferring the groups did not appear to affect response to tap in adulthood. Experiment 5 tested whether simply moving isolate animals would affect response to tap. Results indicate that larval animals are receptive to the stimulation of being moved throughout development with the exception of an insensitive period at the end of the second larval stage. Experiment 6 ws designed to compensate for the effects of isolation by stimulating the worms. However, this extended period of stimulation did not offset the effects of isolation. These experiments suggest that the development of the tap-withdrawal circuit can be influenced by environmental conditions during maturation.

Thesis/Dissertation

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2009-05-23

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/8086

Psychology

University of British Columbia

UBCV

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