Alternative Sites of Synaptic Plasticity in Two Homologous "Fan-out Fan-in" Learning and Memory Networks

Summary. Background. To what extent are the properties of neuronal networks constrained by computational considerations? Comparative analysis of the vertical lobe (VL) system, a brain structure involved in learning and memory, in two phylogenetically close cephalopod mollusks, Octopus vulgaris and the cuttlefish Sepia officinalis, provides a surprising answer to this question.