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PubMed1988

The effect of a calcium antagonist on the retention of simple associational learning.

Using a newly developed training paradigm, rats were trained to associate a spatial location and a black interior with mild footshock and another adjacent location with white interior with the absence of footshock in three independent experiments. Retention of these associations was measured 24 and 48 hr after training in situation in which the animals could move freely between the black and white locations over a 90 sec test. Other rats were subjected to a control procedure in which shock was received on both the black and the white sides of the apparatus. In each of the experiments, half of the animals in the experimental and the control groups were trained following the administration of the calcium slow channel blocking agent, nimodipine (5 mg/kg), and the other half after saline administration. In experiment 1, the injections were given 15 min before training. In experiment 2, the injections were given chronically, over a 6 day period before training. In experiment 3, the animals were given a single injection 7 days before training. In all cases, retention was examined both 24 and 48 hr after training. The results were that the experimental procedures produce a strong aversion to the black portion of the apparatus. The greatest amount of retention was found in animals that had received the chronic injections, whether they were of saline or of nimodipine. In every aspect of retention in which the saline-treated rats were less than perfect in retention, the nimodipine animals exhibited superior performance.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Decomposing memory: functional assignments and brain traffic in paired word associate learning.

The recent covariance structural equation model for word-pair associate encoding and retrieval (Krause, Horwitz, Taylor, Schmidt, Mottaghy, Halsband et al., 1998; Krause, Horwitz, Taylor, Schmidt, Mottaghy, Herzog et al., 1999) is analysed to deduce possible functional assignments of the various brain modules used by subjects in solving the task. Specific processing aspects are considered, in particular, that of long-term working memory sites and how they are coupled to buffer working memory sites to enable deposition and manipulation of remembered associates. The new concept of 'brain traffic' is introduced as an aid to the assessment of how important are various brain modules. A set of functional assignments is produced for the relevant modules.

Association Learning↗
PubMed2006

The effect of relations in paired-associate learning.

Previous studies have shown that the cued recall of paired associates is greater when one member of a pair has been apprehended as lying on the other member, as compared with the two having been apprehended as independent objects. The effect occurs when the objects have been perceived, imagined, or described in the relevant relationship. The additional thoughts hypothesis postulates that participants have more spontaneous "additional thoughts" when apprehending a pair in the relational condition. These may provide additional retrieval routes, thereby explaining the effect. In four experiments, the hypothesis was tested under conditions in which a clear unambiguous definition could be specified for an additional thought. The results showed that the greater recall in an "on" condition, as compared with an independent condition, occurs at least in part because more additional thoughts occur in the "on" condition. There was no evidence for any other contribution to the effect. It is argued that the findings question whether relations between objects play a fundamental role in the structure of memory.

Association Learning↗
PubMed2005

Phenomenon of non-associative learning in Hering-Breuer reflex simulated by electrical vagal stimulation in rabbits.

The purpose of this study was to explore learning and memory in the Hering-Breuer (HB) reflex simulated by a 60-second-long electrical stimulation of vagus nerve. The responses of phrenic nerve discharge to electrical stimulation (10-100 Hz, 20-60 muA, pulse duration 0.3 ms, for 60 s) of the vagus nerve were observed in rabbits. The results showed that 60-second-long stimulation of vagus nerve produced classic HB reflex, which is composed of two components - lung inflation reflex that is the inhibition of inspiration, and lung deflation reflex that is the facilitation of inspiration. (1) High frequency stimulation (>/=40 Hz, 60 s) of the central end of vagus nerve induced shortening of the inspiratory phase and lengthening of expiratory duration. The inhibitory effect on phrenic discharge was released gradually during sustained vagal stimulation, indicating the habituation of the inhibition. At the cessation of stimulation, the phrenic discharge showed transient post-stimulus rebound. Low frequency stimulation (<40 Hz, 60 s) of the central end of vagus nerve caused an increase in respiratory frequency (f) and shortening of expiratory duration. The excitatory effect on phrenic discharge was also released gradually during the vagal stimulation. The phrenic discharge returned to control level gradually after the removal of the vagal stimulus, indicating short-term potentiation (STP). (2) The habituation of HB reflex was inversely dependent on stimulus intensity and frequency. With an increase in the stimulus frequency or intensity, the degree of the habituation decreased. On the other hand, with the decrease of stimulation intensity and frequency, the degree of the habituation increased. These data indicate a phenomenon of non-associative learning in HB reflex simulated by vagal stimulation. Neural synaptic plasticity and accommodation may exist in the reflex control of respiration in rabbits.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Selective enhancement of associative learning by microstimulation of the anterior caudate.

Primates have the remarkable ability to rapidly adjust or modify associations between visual cues and specific motor responses. Whereas little is known as to how such adjustments in behavioral policy are implemented, recent learning models suggest that the anterior striatum is optimally positioned to have a role in this process. We recorded from single units and delivered microstimulation in the striatum of rhesus monkeys performing an associative learning task. Caudate activity during reinforcement was closely correlated with the rate of learning and peaked during the steepest portion of the learning curve when new associations were being acquired. Moreover, delivering microstimulation in the caudate during the reinforcement period significantly increased the rate of learning without altering the monkeys' ultimate performance. These findings suggest that the caudate is responsible for implementing selective adjustments to the 'associative weights' between sensory cues and motor responses during learning, thus enhancing the likelihood of selecting profitable actions.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Perseverations during paired-associate learning in Huntington's disease.

Verbal (word) and nonverbal (design) paired-associate tasks were administered to Huntington's disease (HD) patients and healthy control subjects. An AB-AC paradigm, in which the cue stimuli were paired with different responses on the learning (e.g., BED-REST) and test trials (e.g., BED-SHEET), was used. It was hypothesized that HD patients would continue to respond with AB associations on the AC trials. The results were contrary to expectations: Patients showed impaired learning of both verbal and nonverbal associations but did not display a perseverative response style, even when the associative strength between word pairs was manipulated to elicit perseverations. Patients made more nonperseverative than perseverative errors in all conditions, an error pattern similar to that of control subjects. HD patients did not demonstrate increased susceptibility to proactive interference on these associative learning tasks.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Effects of errorless and errorful face-name associative learning in moderate to severe dementia.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The prevention of errors during learning has been found to be effective in overcoming memory problems in patients with amnesia compared with errorful or trial-and-error learning, possibly as a result of intact implicit memory function. Although errorless learning is a clinically promising technique used in cognitive training settings, to date only a few studies have examined errorless learning in patients with dementia. METHODS: The current study examined errorless and errorful learning using a face-name associative memory task in a group of moderate to severe dementia patients suffering from probable Alzheimer's disease (MMSE < or = 22; n = 10) using a fully counterbalanced within-subject design. RESULTS: Errorless learning had a significantly beneficial effect after two consecutive learning trials (p = 0.01). However, after an unfilled delay of 10 minutes, no significant differences in memory performance were found between errorless and errorful learning. Furthermore, current effects were much smaller compared with previous findings in healthy adults and early-stage dementia patients. CONCLUSIONS: Although errorful learning resulted in better performance in a face-name associative memory task in patients with dementia, this effect was only short-lived. Thus, the beneficial effects of errorless learning are probably not due to intact implicit memory function, but may also be subserved by explicit memory, a memory system that is typically impaired in dementia. Also, the clinical applicability of errorless learning in teaching patients with moderate to severe dementia face-name associations is limited.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Associative learning and stimulus novelty influence the song-induced expression of an immediate early gene in the canary forebrain.

To identify variables that affect immediate early gene (IEG) expression in the auditory telencephalon of songbirds, we developed a conditioning paradigm that trained adult male canaries to associate song with a mild shock. Learning of the association was measured by a bird's fear and avoidance responses. Birds exposed to paired song and shock were compared to yoked controls exposed to each stimulus alone or to both unpaired. Additional groups examined the effects of attention and stress, and of the novelty of the stimulus situation. In situ hybridization analysis of brain sections revealed an enhancement of ZENK expression in birds learning the association between song and shock above levels induced by song alone or yoked-unpaired song and shock. This effect was specifically seen in the caudomedial auditory telencephalon (NCM-HVCM). A comparison of the several control groups indicated that novelty of the song stimulus or of its pairing with shock were the main variables that predicted ZENK levels in NCM-HVCM. These observations are compatible with ZENK playing a role in the formation of song perceptual memories.

Animals↗