Are Memories Transferable? Meet the Scientists Replicating an Infamous Study to Find Out
In the 1960’s, an odd experiment showed planarian worms could transfer memories by consuming each other. It was a sensational finding—that is until the worms stopped learning.
Researchers in Harvard's lab led by neuroscientist Sam Gershman are attempting to replicate a 1960s experiment that claimed planarian worms could learn and pass on memories through cannibalism. To do this, they needed to collect wild planarians from various sources, but their attempts to obtain them proved unsuccessful. Despite repeated setbacks, Gershman's lab continued to seek out the worms, with mixed results.
In the 1960s, James McConnell conducted experiments that suggested planarian worms, like Pavlov's dogs, could be classically conditioned and that memories could be transferred through cannibalism. These experiments became a staple of high school science fairs, but have since been forgotten. Gershman now hopes to pick up where McConnell left off, seeking clues about memory in creatures without neural networks, such as planarians.
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