Weiss says the findings could have implications for how neurons and synapses can reconnect after the upheaval following a stroke or other kind of brain damage. Parts of the brain are retained that allow memories to persist through this very dramatic transition.” Plant preference “People always thought that during metamorphosis the caterpillar turns to soup and all the ingredients are rearranged into the butterfly or moth,” says Weiss. Seventy-seven percent of them avoided the ethyl acetate pipe, suggesting that the lesson learned as a caterpillar is remembered as an adult.
The tests were conducted inside a Y-shaped pipe that allowed the animals to choose an area smelling of ethyl acetate or of unadulterated air.Ībout a month later, after the caterpillars had metamorphosed, the adult moths were given the same choice test. Seventy-eight percent of the caterpillars that were shocked directly after exposure avoided the compound in subsequent tests while still in the larval stage. Weiss and colleagues exposed tobacco hornworm caterpillars, Manduca sexta, to ethyl acetate – a chemical often used in nail polish remover – and a series of mild electric shocks. “We were curious to see if we could train a caterpillar to do something it could remember as an adult,” she says
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