If the human brain uses statistics to gain confidence and come up with a decision, snails only need to use two brain cells to do that, a new study has shown.
Researchers from the University of Sussex were able to discover that a circuit made up of two neurons gets activated when freshwater snails make a decision.
In the study, the Sussex Neuroscience researchers observed the behavior of the snails while they were looking for their food. Action potentials in the brain neurons were measured and recorded using electrodes.
They noted that there are two types of neurons activated during the process: One is the controller type neurons that allow the brain to identify when the food is available. The other neuron then sends the signals to a particular motivational state the brain is — hungry or full. Researchers also discovered that when food is absent, this system allows the snails to conserve much of its energy.
Goal-directed behaviors such as looking for food must be accomplished as a means of survival. To do this, animals must incorporate several data from the external environment and their own condition expending the least possible energy.
University of Sussex professor and study lead author György Kemenes said that brain activity during complex decision making is not understood well, and the present study has shown the capacity of the neurons to form such a mechanism in the brain.
"Our findings can help scientists to identify other core neuronal systems which underlie similar decision making processes," said Kemenes. "This will eventually help us design the 'brains' of robots based on the principle of using the fewest possible components necessary to perform complex tasks."
In an earlier Tech Times report, researchers from the University of California San Diego were able to study a fruit fly's activity during courtship and sexual behavior.
The study was published in Nature Communications on June 3.
Photo: Roberto Verzo | Flickr
