The effect of early experience on learning and memory in cuttlefish.

The effect of early experience on the growth and ontogeny of memory in cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) was studied using an associative learning protocol. Five groups of cuttlefish were reared in different conditions (standard conditions, SC; impoverished conditions, IC; enriched conditions, EC; impoverished then enriched conditions, I/EC; enriched then impoverished conditions, E/IC) from birth to the 3rd month of postembryonic life. Acquisition and retention of the learning task were assessed at 1 and 3 months. Growth was slower and maturation of memory abilities occurred later in cuttlefish from Group IC than in cuttlefish from Group EC, with the maturation rate of memory in cuttlefish from Group SC intermediate between these two groups. Retention performances of cuttlefish from Groups I/EC and E/IC indicated that the environment of rearing during the 2nd and/or 3rd months of life was crucial for the development of memory.