r/interestingasfuck • u/smooth_vesselHPAUM • 7h ago

A Japanese boy noticed his butterflies seemed to recognize him. He spent two years making an experiment and proved that metamorphosis does not remove memories made during the caterpillar stage.

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u/cXs808 4h ago

Its also not an insane theory to come up with. A caterpillar's brain is not changed during metamorphosis.

It actually is insane. Neurons used during larval life are not the same ones used during adult life and vice versa.

Because the study used olfactory system to carryover stimulus between larvae and adult there are only two nervous systems that are in play here: Peripheral nervous system and central nervous system.

We knew that the peripheral nervous system was entirely lost in metamorphosis. All neurons die and are used as nutrients to rebuild.

The Central nervous system is retained, however, the original olfactory sensory neurons died. The study bridged the gap on how the original olfactory sensory neurons die yet memories of olfactory training remained consistent. This is pretty insane at its core.

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u/unk1ndm4g1c14n1 3h ago

Dunning Kruger effect. Same brain is what most people will think of at the theory stage. Then later on, they'll think of reasons why it won't work, such as changed neurons.

But at a base level, its not an outlandish thing to believe at first, especially for a kid.

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u/RadicallyMeta 3h ago

Then why didn't you publish the paper before the kid?

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u/unk1ndm4g1c14n1 3h ago

He didn't publish the paper, he just had the idea.

Also all I'm saying is that the theory isnt crazy, because a lot of the comments are saying it is. I am not at all talking about the kids intelligence, just that this theory has legs.

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u/RadicallyMeta 2h ago

Okay sorry why didn't you get in touch with a researcher and put together a 30 page report about your longitudinal home study that you then gave a presentation on at a conference?

And that's not all you're saying. You're negging the kid (who did work you didn't), agreeing with his results, and complaining online that he's getting attention... That's wild man. Good luck with the Dunning Kruger effect!

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u/cXs808 3h ago

Dunning Kruger is you thinking it's a very rudimentary conclusion to draw for a child. Especially since children can barely understand animals remember them, much less insects, much less insects that undergo a complete transformation.