Word: flatworms
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Proud of It. The original choice of title was not made lightly, says Psychologist-Editor James McConnell, who heads the University of Michigan planarian (flatworm) research group, which publishes the W.R.D, "In psychological jargon," he explains, "those who experiment with rats are called 'rat runners,' and those who work with insects are called 'bug runners.' So we are 'worm runners'-and we're proud of it." Not enough scientists dig McConnell's logic-or humor. Some will not publish their work in a journal with so frivolous a name. Editors of other...
McConnell's piece summarizes some experiments with tiny primitive creatures called planarians, or flatworms, that he has published in his own journal, The Worm Runner's Guide, and elsewhere. His work, which has been confirmed by only some of the researchers who have tried to duplicate his expermiments, suggests that memory storage is in some way related to RNA, the gigantic molecule which is also involved in cell reproduction. He exploited the remarkable regenerative powers of the planarian to demonstrate that both halves of a bisected worm will contract in the presence of light if the worm has been...
From Tail to Head. When a flatworm is cut into two or more pieces, each piece grows into a whole new flatworm. Dr. McConnell and colleagues found that the cut-off part of an educated flatworm passes on much of its learning to the whole worm into which it grows. More surprising, the tails showed as much memory retention as the heads-often more...
...research subjects ranged from cannibalistic flatworms to elderly patients in a Canadian psychiatric hospital. But both the psychiatrists and the flatworm fanciers were working with the same basic stuff: ribonucleic acid (RNA), which seems to be the chemical paper that carries the imprint of animal and human memories. Learned reports on the widely varied projects last week contained startling but strangely similar suggestions for the future. Some day, said the worm workers, students may be able to take their lessons in tablet form. Some day, said the psychiatrists, an old man's failing memory may be rejuvenated in much...
This suggested a chemical change, and Dr. McConnell reasoned that it ought to be possible to educate preschool flatworms by feeding them the proper memory chemicals. He and Assistant Barbara Humphries chopped up some well-trained worms and fed the pieces by hand to unschooled animals. The cannibals learned by eating: when they went to light-and-shock school, they proved to be flatworm prodigies; they learned twice as fast as cannibal worms fed on uneducated meat...