The effect of early experience on learning and memory in cuttlefish

The effect of early experience on the growth and ontogeny of memory in cutt lefish (Sepia officinalis) was studied using an associative learning protoc ol. Five groups of cuttlefish were reared in different conditions (standard conditions, SC; impoverished conditions, IC; enriched conditions, EC; impo verished then enriched conditions, I/EC; enriched then impoverished conditi ons, E/IC) from birth to the 3rd month of postembryonic postembryonic life. Acquisition and retention of the learning task were assessed at 1 and 3 mo nths. Growth was slower and maturation of memory abilities occurred later i n cuttlefish from Group IC than in cuttlefish from Group EC, With the matur ation 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. (C) 2000 John Wiley & S ons, Inc.