Search results for "Associative learning"

Motor learning and body size within an insect brain computational model

2014

Nowadays modeling insect brains is also an important source of inspiration to develop learning architectures and control algorithms for applications on autonomous walking robots. Within the insect brain two important neuropiles received a lot of attention: the mushroom bodies (MBs) and the central complex (CX). Recent research activities considered the MBs as a unique architecture where different behavioural functions can be found. MBs are well known in bees and flies for their role in performing associative learning and memory in odor conditioning experiments [4]. They are also involved in the processing of multiple sensory modalities including visual tasks [3], different forms of learning…

Unconscious odour conditioning 25 years later: Revisiting and extending ‘Kirk-Smith, Van Toller and Dodd’

2009

International audience; The pioneering work by Kirk-Smith, Van Toller, and Dodd [Kirk-Smith, M. D., Van Toller, C., & Dodd, G. H. (1983). Unconscious odour conditioning in human subjects. Biological Psychology, 17, 221–231], established that an unnoticed odorant paired with an emotionally meaningful task can influence mood and attitudes when the odorant alone is re-encountered subsequently. This study was particularly important in highlighting unconscious odour learning processes as they may happen in everyday life. However, it was severely criticized by Black and Smith [Black, S. L., & Smith, D. G. (1994). Has odor conditioning been demonstrated? A critique of “Unconscious odour conditioni…

Pheromone-induced odor learning modifies Fos expression in the newborn rabbit brain.

2013

Research report; International audience; Associative learning contributes crucially to adjust the behavior of neonates to the permanently changing environment. In the European rabbit, the mammary pheromone (MP) excreted in milk triggers sucking behavior in newborns, and additionally promotes very rapid learning of initially neutral odor cues. Such stimuli become then as active as the MP itself to elicit the orocephalic motor responses involved in suckling. In this context, the rabbit is an interesting model to address the question of brain circuits early engaged by learning and memory. Here, we evaluated the brain activation (olfactory bulb and central regions) induced in 4-day-old pups by …

Reliable Correlational Cuing While Controlling for Most-Recent-Pairing Effects.

2020

Irrelevant aspects of the environment or irrelevant attributes of task-relevant stimuli can have important and reliable effects on behavior. When the specific values of an irrelevant stimulus attribute are correlated with different responses, a correlational-cuing effect is observed: faster and more accurate responses when the correlation is positive than when it is negative. Previous work has shown that this effect is not due to simple differences in how often the specific stimuli are being presented, and most explanations of the effect have stressed the clear parallels with classical associative learning. Very recently, however, evidence in favor of an alternative model has been presented…

Hippocampal electrical stimulation disrupts associative learning when targeted at dentate spikes

2017

Hippocampal electrophysiological oscillations, namely theta and ripples, have been implicated in encoding and consolidation of new memories, respectively. According to existing literature, hippocampal dentate spikes are prominent, short‐duration (<30 ms), large‐amplitude (∼2–4 mV) fluctuations in hilar local‐field potentials that take place during awake immobility and sleep. Interestingly, previous studies indicate that during dentate spikes dentate gyrus granule cells increase their firing while firing of CA1 pyramidal cells are suppressed, thus resulting in momentary uncoupling of the two hippocampal subregions. To date, the behavioural significance of dentate spikes is unknown. Here, to …

Effect of emotional state on eyeblink classical conditioning in humans

2003

Role of the nNOS gene in ethanol-induced conditioned place preference in mice

2009

Nitric oxide (NO) produced by neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) has a role in synaptic plasticity, and evidence suggests its role in a range of effects produced by alcohol in the central nervous system. The aim of the current study was to investigate the role of the nNOS gene in the development of ethanol-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) in mice. The CPP paradigm is designed to investigate the reinforcing properties of drugs of abuse and the development of maladaptive behaviors, such as conditioned response to drug-associated stimuli, following repeated drug exposure. Adult male and female wild type (WT) and nNOS knockout (KO) mice on a mixed B6; 129S genetic background were t…

Disrupting neural activity related to awake-state sharp wave-ripple complexes prevents hippocampal learning

2012

Oscillations in hippocampal local-field potentials (LFPs) reflect the crucial involvement of the hippocampus in memory trace formation: theta (4–8 Hz) oscillations and ripples (~200 Hz) occurring during sharp waves are thought to mediate encoding and consolidation, respectively. During sharp wave-ripple complexes (SPW-Rs), hippocampal cell firing closely follows the pattern that took place during the initial experience, most likely reflecting replay of that event. Disrupting hippocampal ripples using electrical stimulation either during training in awake animals or during sleep after training retards spatial learning. Here, adult rabbits were trained in trace eyeblink conditioning, a hippoc…

On the quantitative edge of feature and gestalt -based associative learning : learning-related ERP changes in the hippocampus and the prefontal corte…

2004

Data from: Learning outdoors: Male lizards show flexible spatial learning under semi-natural conditions

2013

Spatial cognition is predicted to be a fundamental component of fitness in many lizard species, and yet some studies suggest that it is relatively slow and inflexible. However, such claims are based on work conducted using experimental designs or in artificial contexts that may underestimate their cognitive abilities. We used a biologically realistic experimental procedure (using simulated predatory attacks) to study spatial learning and its flexibility in the lizard Eulamprus quoyii in semi-natural outdoor enclosures under similar conditions to those experienced by lizards in the wild. To evaluate the flexibility of spatial learning, we conducted a reversal spatial-learning task in which p…