Department of Correlative Study in Physics and Chemistry, Graduate School of Integrated Basic Sciences, Nihon University, 3-25-40 Sakurajosui, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 156-8550, Japan.
Department of Physics, College of Science and Technology, Nihon University, 1-8-14 Kandasurugadai, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-8308, Japan.
J Exp Biol. 2021 Feb 4;224(Pt 3):jeb238055. doi: 10.1242/jeb.238055.
We examined the effects of epicatechin (Epi), a flavonoid abundant in green tea and cocoa, on long-term memory (LTM) formed following conditioned taste aversion (CTA) training in In CTA training, the snails learnt to avoid a food that initially they liked (i.e. sucrose). Twenty-four hours after CTA training, 67% of the trained snails showed a significant decrease in the feeding behaviour elicited by sucrose. Placing snails in the Epi solution in CTA training did not alter the percentage of snails exhibiting LTM, but it significantly increased LTM persistence. We also examined changes following Epi exposure in spontaneous activity of the cerebral giant cells (CGCs) that modulate feeding behaviour and are necessary for CTA-LTM. Our data suggest that Epi causes a decrease in CGC activity and increases LTM persistence, possibly via a GABAergic mechanism.
我们研究了表儿茶素（Epi）对条件味觉厌恶（CTA）训练后形成的长期记忆（LTM）的影响，表儿茶素是一种在绿茶和可可中含量丰富的类黄酮。在 CTA 训练中，蜗牛学会了避免最初喜欢的食物（即蔗糖）。在 CTA 训练 24 小时后，67%的训练蜗牛表现出蔗糖诱发摄食行为明显减少。在 CTA 训练中，将蜗牛置于 Epi 溶液中不会改变表现出 LTM 的蜗牛的百分比，但它显著增加了 LTM 的持久性。我们还检查了 Epi 暴露后对调节摄食行为且对 CTA-LTM 有必要的脑巨大细胞（CGC）自发活动的变化。我们的数据表明，Epi 导致 CGC 活性降低和 LTM 持久性增加，可能通过 GABA 能机制。
