title: Epigenetic learning in non-neural organisms.
abstract: Learning involves a usually adaptive response to an input (an external stimulus or the organism's own behaviour) in which the input-response relation is memorized; some physical traces of the relation persist and can later be the basis of a more effective response. Using toy models we show that this characterization applies not only to the paradigmatic case of neural learning, but also to cellular responses that are based on epigenetic mechanisms of cell memory. The models suggest that the research agenda of epigenetics needs to be expanded.
authors.affiliation: Natural Science Department, The Open University of Israel, POB 808, Raanana, Israel. simona@openu.ac.il
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ginsburg
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jablonka
mesh_terms: D005075:Biological Evolution; D002843:Chromatin / Q000378:metabolism; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic; D007858:Learning; D008568:Memory; D008957:Models, Genetic
chemical_list: D002843:Chromatin