Michael Levin and Tal Shomrat, biologists at Tufts University, have been studying how animals store and process information, whether it’s memories in the brain or the blueprint for developing organs in the body. The team turned to flatworms because, despite their relative simplicity, they have many of the same organs and body organisation as people: a brain and nervous system, bilateral symmetry, and even some of the same behaviours.
Flatworms “also have many of the same neurotransmitters as we do, and have been shown in older studies to remember complex tasks,” Levin said. (Read more about memory in National Geographic magazine.) Yet unlike people, these worms have a remarkable ability to regenerate organs and body parts, including their brains—making them perfect research subjects."
After the team verified that the worms had memorized where to find food, they chopped off the worms’ heads and let them regrow, which took two weeks. Then the team showed the worms with the regrown heads where to find food, essentially a refresher course of their light training before decapitation.
Subsequent experiments showed that the worms remembered where the light spot was, that it was safe, and that food could be found there. The worms’ memories were just as accurate as those worms who had never lost their heads.
https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2013/07/16/decapitated-worms-regrow-heads-keep-old-memories/
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