Anxiety induces long-term memory forgetting in the crayfish

When two male crayfish encounter, agonistic bouts are initiated and a winner-loser relationship is established. Larger animals are more likely to win with their physical advantage, but they are frequently beaten by small dominant animals with previous winning experience. This winner effect remains for several days. In mammals, anxiety impairs learning and induces memory forgetting. In this study, dominant crayfish were exposed to electrical shocks two days after their first win, after which they were paired with large or small naive opponents the following day. Our results showed that electrical shock-applied dominant animals were beaten by large naive opponents, but overcame small naive opponents, suggesting that electrical shocks cause animals to forget their previous winner effect. Electrical shocks appeared to elicit serotonin-mediated anxiety since electrical shocks had no effect on mianserin-injected dominant animals. A 0.5 mu M serotonin injection induced a caused anxiety-like reaction, while a 1.0 mu M serotonin injection-induced no changes in posture and walking activity. For pairings between dominant and naive animals 1 day after serotonin injection, 0.5 mu M serotonin caused similar forgetting of the winner effect, but 1.0 mu M serotonin had no effect. Serotonin of low concentrations mediated anxiety and stimulated forgetting of the winner's memory.

Automated summary

In crayfish competitions, winners have an advantage but this winner effect can be forgotten under certain circumstances, leading to anxiety reactions. The relationship between anxiety and memory is complex, with anxiety sometimes causing memory loss.