Scientists replicate infamous 1960s study to test if memories are transferable

Researchers in neuroscientist Sam Gershman's Harvard lab are replicating a 1960s experiment that claimed planarian flatworms could transfer memories by eating each other, a sensational finding that later faltered when worms stopped learning. Research assistant Kelso collected wild planarians from the icy Charles River, Oregon streams and Michigan lakes after mail-order worms proved unsuitable, but none behaved as needed in the lab.