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Sci Tech
Cockroaches learn best during the evenings
In a study, researchers taught individual cockroaches to associate peppermint — a scent that they normally find slightly distasteful — with sugar water, causing them to favour it over vanilla, a scent they find universally appealing.
24-hour cycle
The researchers trained individual cockroaches at different times in the 24-hour day/night cycle and then tested them to see how long they remembered the association. They found that the individuals trained during the evening retained the memory for several days. Those trained at night also had good retention. During the morning, however, when the cockroaches are least active, they were totally incapable of forming a new memory. The few studies that have been done with mammals suggest their ability to learn also varies with the time of day.
For example, a recent experiment with humans found that people’s ability to acquire new information is reduced when their biological clocks are disrupted, particularly at certain times of day.
Dramatic daily variations in the cockroach’s learning ability were discovered by the new study performed by Vanderbilt University biologists and published online recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“This is the first example of an insect whose ability to learn is controlled by its biological clock,” says Terry L. Page, the professor of biological sciences who directed the project, according to a Vanderbilt University press release.
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