Aversive Conditioning to a Compound Odor Stimulus and Its Components in a Terrestrial Mollusc

Abstract To understand the perception of an odor mixture by the slug Limax marginatus, a mixture of two odors (carrot and cucumber) was used to condition the slugs, and internal representation of the odor mixture and its components was determined by cooling-induced retrograde amnesia. Slugs conditioned with the odor mixture showed aversive behavior, not only towards the mixture, but also towards the individual odor components. When the conditioned slugs were cooled after presentation of one of the odor components, odor preferences for both components recovered, suggesting that the slugs perceived the odor mixture as an entity. However, when the slugs were exposed to the components of the odor mixture after conditioning with the mixture, cooling treatment resulted in amnesia, which was specific towards the odor presented before the cooling treatment. This suggests that slugs exposed to odor components after conditioning were able to recognize the odor components individually. Thus, slugs learn a binary mix...