2011 volume 40(6) pages 743 – 746

Cite as:
Davidson C, Prados J, Gibson C L, Young A M J, Barnes D, Sherlock R, Hutchinson C V, 2011, "Shedding light on photosensitive behaviour in brown planaria (Dugesia Tigrina)" Perception 40(6) 743 – 746
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Shedding light on photosensitive behaviour in brown planaria (Dugesia Tigrina)

Colin Davidson, Jose Prados, Claire L Gibson, Andrew M J Young, Darrel Barnes, Rachel Sherlock, Claire V Hutchinson

Abstract. The planarian flatworm is one of the simplest animals to develop two eyecups that enable them to detect the presence and direction of light, which they typically avoid. In this study we assessed responses of planaria to different intensities of light. We found that they exhibited a graded, sigmoidal, photonegative response to light intensity. A two-octave increase in luminance (on the upward slope of the sigmoid) corresponded to a 9% increase in the speed planaria travelled to avoid light.

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