![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090507180922im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/x.gif) News From the Field Mollusks Taste Memories to Build Shells
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090507180922im_/http://www.nsf.gov/images/greenlineshort.jpg)
April 1, 2009
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Mollusks add daily to the margins of their shells, producing intricate patterns prized by beachcombers. Though this seems complex, the process can actually be explained by a simple network of nerve cells that sense or "taste" yesterday's shell layer in order to build today's. In essence, seashell patterns are a hard copy of a snail's memories. To prove it, UC-Berkeley and University of Pittsburgh researchers created a computer program that recreates the patterns seen in seashells.
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Source University of California, Berkeley
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