James V McConnell
McConnell and his associates studied learning and memory in planarian flatworms, mainly in the 1950s and 1960s1. Later authors cite the 1955 conditioning work with Thompson3 and the 1959 report that memory survives regeneration45. They also note that the field was marked by controversy over experimental standardization2.
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Planarian learning work
Later papers credit McConnell and colleagues with early planarian research. One cites Thompson and McConnell (1955) among studies showing that planaria can be classically conditioned, trained by instrumental learning, and preference trained3. Blackiston and colleagues describe the 1950s and 60s work as producing remarkable discoveries, though the field had limited impact1. The held passages do not describe the procedures or measurements in detail. They give only the citations and the later summaries of what the work showed.
Memory and regeneration
McConnell et al. (1959) is cited, with Corning (1966), for the finding that memories in planaria survive decapitation4. Levin cites the same 1959 paper for the claim that tails of trained worms regenerate into animals that recall the original information, so the memory is apparently imprinted on the new brain5.
Dispute and later use
The older planarian work is described as controversial. Blackiston and colleagues blame the lack of standardized procedures and built an automated training device to answer that problem2. Neuhof, Levin and Rechavi call the 1960s and 70s experiments controversial, and say that modern controlled experiments point the same way7. Levin also cites McConnell and Shelby (1970) among reports that some memories can be transferred between individuals6.
Planarian learning and memory, and the mechanisms underlying it, have been studied since the beginning of the 20th century, mainly through the 50's and 60's by McConnell and his associates [105], [107], [108].
Blackiston D, Shomrat T, Nicolas CL, Granata C, Levin M, 2010 · A second-generation device for automated training and quantitative behavior… · open at passage 39suffering from controversies mainly due to the lack of sufficient standardization of experimental procedures [108], [109].
Blackiston D, Shomrat T, Nicolas CL, Granata C, Levin M, 2010 · A second-generation device for automated training and quantitative behavior… · open at passage 39Planaria demonstrate classical conditioning, instrumental learning, and can be preference trained (Thompson & McConnell 1955; Best & Rubenstein 1962; Wells 1967; Abbott & Wong 2008).
Durant F, Lobo D, Hammelman J, Levin M, 2016 · Physiological controls of large-scale patterning in planarian regeneration: a… · open at passage 47Classical studies (McConnell et al., 1959; Corning, 1966), as well as more recent work performed using automated analysis methods (Shomrat and Levin, 2013), showed that memories in planaria survive decapitation
Baluška F, Levin M, 2016 · On Having No Head: Cognition throughout Biological Systems · open at passage 10Tails of worms trained on specific tasks regenerate into animals that show recall of the original information: the behavioral memories are apparently also imprinted onto the new brain as it forms (McConnell et al. 1959; Shomrat and Levin 2013).
Levin M, 2023 · Bioelectric networks: the cognitive glue enabling evolutionary scaling from… · open at passage 13at least certain kinds of memories can be transferred between individuals, by transplants of brain tissue or molecular engrams (Pietsch and Schneider, 1969; McConnell and Shelby, 1970;
Levin M, 2022 · Technological Approach to Mind Everywhere: An Experimentally-Grounded Framework… · open at passage 16Controversial experiments conducted with planaria in the 60s and 70s, but also modern experiments that were properly controlled
Neuhof M, Levin M, Rechavi O, 2016 · Vertically- and horizontally-transmitted memories - the fading boundaries… · open at passage 39
