A Model of the Brain. Cephalopod nervous system as a model for the study of the physiological bases of learning and memory. (360G-Wellcome-085258_Z_08_Z)

I wish to investigate the network of experimental investigations on the anatomical and physiological bases of learning and memory in Octopus vulgaris, performed by John Zachary Young from the early 1940s to the mid 1970s. The choice of the invertebrate Octopus, as a model system for investigating learning and memory processes, was based on a set of basic assumptions, such as the high complexity of its behavioural repertoire, its trainability and the relatively simple and discrete architecture of its brain. Young's experience and the theoretical model of learning he elaborated were widely circulated and had a considerable impact on contemporary neuroscience studies, directly influencing a number of successive theories. I aim to explore the experimental and theoretical roots of Young's theory of the brain, within the context of contemporary neuroscience to underline the impact of his experimental work and of his general theory of memory on the development of a selective account of memor y processes. A second, related goal is to evaluate Young s influence on British medical culture, which, as a Professor of Anatomy at the University College London, he helped renew in an experimental and multidisciplinary direction, together with colleagues such as A. V. Hill and Peter B. Medawar.