[1] Aplysia californica is used in neuroscience research for studies of the cellular basis of behavior including: habituation, dishabituation, and sensitization, because of the simplicity and relatively large size of the underlying neural circuitry.
[1] Eric Kandel, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2000 for his work with Aplysia californica, was involved in pioneering research into this reflex in the 1960s and 1970s.
Together they form a reflex pattern with short latency which protects the animal's gill and siphon from potentially threatening stimuli.
In molluscs such as Aplysia californica the peripheral motor neurons are more extensive, as opposed to vertebrates, and innervate somatic (locomotor and appendageal) muscles.
[2] Kandel and colleagues used preparations of Aplysia californica where individuals were restrained in small aquariums in a manner that the gill was exposed.
Sensitization was observed when a strong stimulus was administered to the tail, thus enhancing a completely rested reflex in Aplysia californica.