EXPERIENCES during the first few weeks of a squid’s life etch themselves
permanently in its brain and help them hunt as adults, biologists in California
have found. If scientists can track down the molecules that bring about these
early changes, they may discover how the brains of animals and people are shaped
as well.
Early experiences affect adult behaviours and abilities. But in humans and
other vertebrates, teasing out the brain chemistry that causes this is hard,
because the wiring of our brains is so complicated.
So William Gilly and Thomas Preuss at Hopkins Marine Station in Pacific
Grove, California,…
