Castellucci & Kandel (1974)

A Quantal Analysis of the Synaptic Depression Underlying Habituation of the Gill-Withdrawal Reflex in Aplysia

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 71(12), 5004-5008

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Abstract

Habituation, one of the simplest behavioral paradigms for studying memory, has recently been examined on the cellular level in the gill-withdrawal reflex in the mollusc Aplysia and in the escape response in cray-fish. In both cases short-term habituation involved a decrease in excitatory synaptic transmission at the synapses between the sensory neurons and their central target cells. To analyze the mechanisms of the synaptic depression in Aplysia, we applied a quantal analysis to synaptic transmission between the sensory and motor neurons of the gill-withdrawal reflex. Our results indicate that short-term habituation results from a presynaptic mechanism: a decrease in the number of transmitter quanta released per impulse. The sensitivity of the postsynaptic receptor remains unaltered.

Reference

Castellucci, V. F., & Kandel, E. R. (1974). A quantal analysis of the synaptic depression underlying habituation of the gill-withdrawal reflex in Aplysia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 71(12), 5004–5008. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.71.12.5004

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Cited in the argument rather than behind a score: this is one of the papers the taxonomy is built on, named where the site explains itself rather than in the findings under a mechanism.