Search results for "Classical conditioning"

Hippocampal theta (3-8 Hz) activity during classical eyeblink conditioning in rabbits

2007

In 1978, Berry and Thompson showed that the amount of theta (3–8 Hz) activity in the spontaneous hippocampal EEG predicted learning rate in subsequent eyeblink conditioning in rabbits. More recently, the absence of theta activity during the training trial has been shown to have a detrimental effect on learning rate. Here, we aimed to further explore the relationship between theta activity and classical eyeblink conditioning by determining how the relative power of hippocampal theta activity [theta/(theta + delta) ratio] changes during both unpaired control and paired training phases. We found that animals with a higher hippocampal theta ratio immediately before conditioning learned faster a…

A microcomputer system for controlling classical conditioning experiments

1994

A microcomputer-based laboratory system for controlling stimulus presentations and data acquisition in classical conditioning experiments is described. The system comprises an Intel 386/486-based microcomputer and a commercially obtained low-cost counter/timer board with input/output lines for stimulus timing and external device control. A simple, yet versatile custom-designed structured programming language is provided for performing an unlimited number of stimulus configurations and their sequences. In electrophysiological studies, the system can be flexibly connected to computer-controlled signal conditioning systems for the amplification and filtering of multiunit and evoked field poten…

Effect of emotional state on eyeblink classical conditioning in humans

2003

Rabbit cerebellar event-related potentials during classical nictitating membrane conditioning

2004

Effects of Hippocampal State-Contingent Trial Presentation on Hippocampus-Dependent Nonspatial Classical Conditioning and Extinction

2014

Hippocampal local field potentials are characterized by two mutually exclusive states: one characterized by regular θ oscillations (∼4–8 Hz) and the other by irregular sharp-wave ripples. Presenting stimuli during dominant θ oscillations leads to expedited learning, suggesting that θ indexes a state in which encoding is most effective. However, ripple-contingent training also expedites learning, suggesting that any discrete brain state, much like the external context, can affect learning. We trained adult rabbits in trace eyeblink conditioning, a hippocampus-dependent nonspatial task, followed by extinction. Trials were delivered either in the presence or absence of θ or regardless of hippo…

Most hippocampal CA1 pyramidal cells in rabbits increase firing during awake sharp-wave ripples and some do so in response to external stimulation an…

2020

Hippocampus forms neural representations of real-life events including multimodal information of spatial and temporal context. These representations, i.e. organized sequences of neuronal firing are repeated during following rest and sleep, especially when so-called sharp-wave ripples (SPW-Rs) characterize hippocampal local-field potentials. This SPW-R –related replay is thought to underlie memory consolidation. Here, we set out to explore how hippocampal CA1 pyramidal cells respond to the conditioned stimulus during trace eyeblink conditioning and how these responses manifest during SPW-Rs in awake adult female New Zealand White rabbits. Based on reports in rodents, we expected SPW-Rs to ta…

Hippocampal event-related potentials to tone-CS during classical conditioning of the rabbit nictitating membrane response

2004

Rapid changes in bodily and neural states affect learning

2018

Declarative memories consist of the past events and factual information that can be recalled. One of the most popular experimental paradigms used in studying long-term memory formation is classical conditioning. Trace conditioning is a hippocampus-dependent task where two separate sensory stimuli are presented in contingency but with a temporal gap between. In trace eyeblink conditioning a conditioned stimulus, usually a tone, is presented with a short silent period followed by an airpuff to the eye. In the beginning of the learning process the behavioral response to the airpuff is naturally a blink of an eye. After repeated trials the subject learns to shut the eyelid after perceiving the …

Hippocampal theta phase-contingent memory retrieval in delay and trace eyeblink conditioning

2017

Hippocampal theta oscillations (3–12 Hz) play a prominent role in learning. It has been suggested that encoding and retrieval of memories are supported by different phases of the theta cycle. Our previous study on trace eyeblink conditioning in rabbits suggests that the timing of the conditioned stimulus (CS) in relation to theta phase affects encoding but not retrieval of the memory trace. Here, we directly tested the effects of hippocampal theta phase on memory retrieval in two experiments conducted on adult female New Zealand White rabbits. In Experiment 1, animals were trained in trace eyeblink conditioning followed by extinction, and memory retrieval was tested by presenting the CS at …

Learning to learn: Theta oscillations predict new learning, which enhances related learning and neurogenesis

2012

Animals in the natural world continuously encounter learning experiences of varying degrees of novelty. New neurons in the hippocampus are especially responsive to learning associations between novel events and more cells survive if a novel and challenging task is learned. One might wonder whether new neurons would be rescued from death upon each new learning experience or whether there is an internal control system that limits the number of cells that are retained as a function of learning. In this experiment, it was hypothesized that learning a task that was similar in content to one already learned previously would not increase cell survival. We further hypothesized that in situations in…