Actin May Be Involved in the Structural Basis of Tactile    Learning and Memory in Octopus
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Dr. J. David Robertson and his colleagues intend to investigate                 the process of learning and memory using Octopus vulgaris.  They                hypothesize that active extension of filopodia-like cytoplasmic                 processes analogous to microspikes of neuronal growth cones is a                primary event in learning and memory.  In Octopus brain the                     posterior buccal lobe is essential for tactile learning and                     memory.  Dr. Robertson expects actin contractility to be                        essential to learning and memory.  Cytochalasin B disrupts actin                causing filopodia to collapse reversibly in growth cones; the                   same should happen in brain tissue.  Dr. Robertson has tested                   this hypothesis by injecting cytochalasin B into the posterior                  buccal lobes of the brain of Octopus.  As predicted, the                        cytochalasin B prevents tactile learning reversibly without                     affecting memories previously consolidated or affecting visual                  learning and memory.  Dr. Robertson will test the hypothesis                    through investigation of the posterior buccal lobe by electron                  mycroscopy to enumerate filopodia-like cytoplasmic processes in                 synaptic regions of normal and cytochalasin B-injected neuropils.               He shall record electrically from neurons in posterior buccal                   brain slices and microinject them with fluorescent dyes and                     horseradish peroxidase for study by epifluorescence light                       microscopy.  Dr. Robertson also plans to study the distribution                 of brain actin by using myosin S1 decoration and by determining                 the distribution of radioactively labeled cytochalasin B using                  autoradiography.
{'FirstName': 'J. David', 'LastName': 'Robertson', 'PI_MID_INIT': None, 'PI_SUFX_NAME': None, 'PI_FULL_NAME': 'J. David Robertson', 'EmailAddress': None, 'NSF_ID': '000352034', 'StartDate': '04/01/1988', 'EndDate': None, 'RoleCode': 'Principal Investigator'}
{'Name': 'Duke University', 'CityName': 'DURHAM', 'ZipCode': '277054640', 'PhoneNumber': '9196843030', 'StreetAddress': '2200 W MAIN ST', 'StreetAddress2': None, 'CountryName': 'United States', 'StateName': 'North Carolina', 'StateCode': 'NC', 'CONGRESSDISTRICT': '04', 'CONGRESS_DISTRICT_ORG': 'NC04', 'ORG_UEI_NUM': 'TP7EK8DZV6N5', 'ORG_LGL_BUS_NAME': 'DUKE UNIVERSITY', 'ORG_PRNT_UEI_NUM': None}
{'Name': 'Duke University Medical Center', 'CityName': 'Durham', 'StateCode': 'NC', 'ZipCode': '27706', 'StreetAddress': None, 'CountryCode': 'US', 'CountryName': 'United States', 'StateName': 'North Carolina', 'CountryFlag': '1', 'CONGRESSDISTRICT': '02', 'CONGRESS_DISTRICT_PERF': 'NC02'}
{'Code': '1161', 'Text': 'NEUROBIOLO OF LEARNING & MEMOR'}
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