{
  "id": 17374438,
  "title": "Are Memories Transferable? Meet the Scientists Replicating an Infamous Study to Find Out",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/31/are-memories-transferable-meet-the-scientists-replicating-an-infamous",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-10-31T09:30:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Wired Science",
    "slug": "wired-science",
    "url": "https://www.wired.com/story/are-memories-transferable-meet-the-scientists-replicating-an-infamous-study-to-find-out/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "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.",
  "summary": "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.",
  "key_points": [
    "Harvard researchers aim to replicate 1960s planarian worm memory study.",
    "Neuroscientist Sam Gershman leads the replication effort.",
    "Wild planarians difficult to collect, progress remains uncertain."
  ],
  "editors_take": "Revisiting these forgotten experiments shifts the focus of memory research toward creatures lacking neural networks to determine if learning can exist independently of complex biological brain structures.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}