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PubMed1997

Association learning and recognition memory in alcoholic Korsakoff patients.

Association learning and recognition memory were examined in 8 male alcoholic Korsakoff patients (mean age 58), and in the following 4 groups of 10 men: non-Korsakoff alcoholics (mean age 59), nonalcoholic controls (mean age 64), younger alcoholics (mean age 36), and nonalcoholic controls (mean age 37). The tasks were modeled after those used for testing memory functioning in nonhuman primates. Association learning, defined as the ability to distinguish rewarded from equally familiar nonrewarded visual stimuli, was impaired in Korsakoff patients. Korsakoff patients also were impaired on recognition memory-the ability to discriminate familiar from novel items. Results support the view of loss of multiple memory functions in alcoholic amnesia. An effect of aging was indicated by differences in performance levels between younger and older groups of non-Korsakoff participants, although the latter were superior to the Korsakoff patients.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Aging and monitoring associative learning: is monitoring accuracy spared or impaired?

Mixed lists of associatively related and unrelated paired associates were used to study monitoring of associative learning. Older and younger adults produced above-chance levels of relative accuracy, as measured by intraindividual correlations (gamma) of judgments of learning (JOLs) with item recall. JOLs were strongly influenced by relatedness, and this effect was greater for older adults. Relative accuracy was higher for unrelated than for related pairs. Correlations of JOLs with item recall for a randomly yoked learner indicated that access to one's own encoding experiences increased relative accuracy. Both age groups manifested a contrast effect (lower JOLs for unrelated items when mixed with related items). Aging appears to spare monitoring of encoding, even though it adversely affects associative learning.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Localization of function within the dorsal hippocampus: the role of the CA3 subregion in paired-associate learning.

Computational models and electrophysiological data suggest that the CA3 subregion of the hippocampus supports the formation of arbitrary associations; however, no behavioral studies have been conducted to test this hypothesis. Rats with neurotoxin-induced lesions of dorsal dentate gyrus (DG), CA3, or CA1 were tested on object-place and odor-place paired-associate tasks to test whether the mechanism that supports paired-associate learning is localized to the CA3 subregion of the dorsal hippocampus or whether all hippocampal subregions contribute to paired-associate learning. The data indicate that rats with DG or CA1 lesions learned the tasks as well as controls; however, CA3-lesioned rats were impaired in learning the tasks. Thus, the CA3 subregion of the dorsal hippocampus contains a mechanism to support paired-associate learning.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

The relationship between learning disability, intelligence, and paired-associate learning.

Learning disabled (N = 45) and non-learning disabled (N = 39) third and fourth grade boys and girls were compared in four paired-associate situations. The situations respectively measured learning, memory, exemplar learning, and transfer. Intelligence was measured with the WISC-R. The data were nonnormal in distribution, and the results were thus analyzed parametrically for intelligence and group. What appears to be an interaction occurred. Intelligence facilitated performance for normals on the memory task but had a deleterious effect for the learning disabled Ss. The learning disabled high intelligence group, however, performed significantly better than the other groups on the exemplar and transfer tasks. These findings are discussed in terms of conceptualizations of learning disability and the nature of intervention strategies. In addition, concern is raised for the validity for research with these children where the IQ factor is ignored or covaried and not directly investigated.

Child↗
PubMed1997

Mutations that prevent associative learning in C. elegans.

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans offers a promising system for the reductionist study of learning and memory. In this article, classical conditioning in C. elegans is demonstrated with a variety of associative learning assays. These assays allowed for the isolation and behavioral characterization of 2 mutant C. elegans lines impaired in associative learning. Both lines show no short-term or long-term associative conditioning; however, they appear relatively normal in tests of nonassociative learning and sensorimotor function. In combination with the well-described genetics and neuroanatomy of C. elegans, the isolation of mutants selectively, yet completely, blocked in associative learning provides the basis for an effective characterization of the cellular and molecular aspects of associative learning.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Paired-associate learning and memory interference in schizophrenia.

Patients with frontal lobe damage have been shown to exhibit disproportionate impairments of second list learning as a result of interference effects. Based upon the assumption that schizophrenia is associated with frontal dysfunction, we attempted to explore how various manipulations of paired-associate learning tasks would interfere with schizophrenic patients' memory performance. Patients with schizophrenia were administered four tests of paired-associate learning, in which cue and response words were manipulated to increase interference across two study lists. In two tests of paired-associate learning (AB-AC test), cue words used in one list were repeated in a second list but were associated with different response words (e.g. lion-hunter, lion-circus). One version of this test employed moderately related word pairs and the other version employed unrelated word pairs. In the other two tests (AB-ABr test), all words used in one list were repeated in a second list but were rearranged to form new pairs. Again, one version of this test used moderately related word pairs and the other version used unrelated word pairs. We hypothesized that patients with schizophrenia would exhibit disproportionate impairment of second-list learning as a result of interference effects and that they would do especially poorly in the AB-ABr task, where the word pairs were unrelated. However, these predictions were not supported. Furthermore, it was difficult to tease apart a specific problem in list discrimination from the generally poor memory of the schizophrenic patients. We suggest that the susceptibility to these interference effects in patients with schizophrenia is not a specific problem in cognition, but rather one that is confounded by general memory problems.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

Facilitative effect of mnemonic strategies on multiple-associate learning in EMR children.

The efficacy of mnemonic strategy training for multiple-associate learning was examined. Following pretraining measures of multiple-associate learning and general memory skills, 33 young EMR children were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: imagery, rote repetition, or control. Each group participated in a story and game program for 5 hours over a 2-week period, which, depending on condition, involved intensive training in the use of either imagery or rote repetition or no direct mnemonic training. Posttraining measures of children who received mnemonic training showed marked improvement, with imagery being superior (p less than .01) to rote repetition.

Association Learning↗
PubMed2001

Modulation of induced gamma band responses and phase synchrony in a paired associate learning task in the human EEG.

It has been proposed that associative learning is accomplished by the formation of cell assemblies and synchronous activity among the neurons of such an assembly. Induced gamma band responses (GBRs) and phase synchrony between electrode sites are discussed as a signature of activity within a cell assembly. To examine the activation of this network due to memory recall, a paired associate learning paradigm was used. EEG was analyzed in the frequency domain. Results showed a significant increase of induced GBRs at posterior and anterior electrode sites in the recall sequence of the learning condition. Furthermore, phase synchrony revealed a broad distribution pattern of phase synchrony between posterior and frontal electrode sites.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Brain indices of nonconscious associative learning.

Using a classical conditioning technique, this study investigated whether nonconscious associative learning could be indexed by event-related brain activity (ERP). There were three phases. In a preconditioning baseline phase, pleasant and unpleasant facial schematics were presented in awareness (suprathreshold). A conditioning phase followed, in which stimuli were presented outside awareness (subthreshold, via energy masking), with an unpleasant face (CS+) linked to an aversive shock and a pleasant face (CS-) not linked to a shock. The third, postconditioning phase, involved stimulus presentations in awareness (suprathreshold). Evidence for acquisition of a conditional response was sought by comparing suprathreshold pre- and postconditioning phases, as well as in the subthreshold conditioning phase itself. For the pre-postconditioning phase analyses, significant ERP component differences differentiating CS+ and CS- were observed for N1, P2, and especially P3. For the conditioning phase, significant differences were observed in the 100-400 ms. post-stimulus region reflecting a CS+ processing negativity. Brain activity does indeed index the acquisition of a conditional response to subthreshold stimuli. Associative learning can occur outside awareness.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Prawn-in-a-tube procedure: habituation or associative learning in cuttlefish?

The prawn-in-a-tube procedure (J. B. Messenger, 1973a) has been used almost exclusively to study associative learning in cuttlefish. In two experiments, the authors sought to determine whether the decline in attack responses observed in this procedure was best accounted for by habituation or associative learning. Results of Experiment 1 revealed an asymmetrical stimulus-specificity effect that could be interpreted as either an instance of habituation or of associative learning. Results of Experiment 2 demonstrated that the response decline could not be reversed following the presentation of a dishabituatory stimulus. The combined results of these experiments support the conclusion that the response decline is best viewed as a resulting of associative processes. The authors considered whether the response decline represents extinction or passive avoidance.

Animals↗
PubMed1963

All-or-none learning and the role of repetition in paired-associate learning.

The learning of a list of stimulus-response items is a two-stage process involving response learning and association. It is assumed that both stages are learned in an all-or-none fashion. Subjects were trained to learn a list of paired-associate items with Rock's substitution procedure. Their performance could be predicted from the all-or-none theory with parameter estimates based upon the performance of a different group of subjects who learned the same items under normal conditions.

Humans↗
PubMed2001

Associative learning elicits the formation of multiple-synapse boutons.

The formation of new synapses has been suggested to underlie learning and memory. However, previous work from this laboratory has demonstrated that hippocampus-dependent associative learning does not induce a net gain in the total number of hippocampal synapses and, hence, a net synaptogenesis. The aim of the present work was to determine whether associative learning involves a specific synaptogenesis confined to the formation of multiple-synapse boutons (MSBs) that synapse with more than one dendritic spine. We used the behavioral paradigm of trace eyeblink conditioning, which is a hippocampus-dependent form of associative learning. Conditioned rabbits were given daily 80-trial sessions to a criterion of 80% conditioned responses in a session. During each trial, the conditioned stimulus (tone) and the unconditioned stimulus (corneal airpuff) were presented with an intervening trace interval of 500 msec. Brain tissue was taken for morphological analyses 24 hr after the last session. Unbiased stereological methods were used for obtaining estimates of the total number of MSBs in the stratum radiatum of hippocampal subfield CA1. The results showed that the total number of MSBs was significantly increased in conditioned rabbits as compared with pseudoconditioned or unstimulated controls. This conditioning-induced change, which occurs without a net synaptogenesis, reflects a specific synaptogenesis resulting in MSB formation. Models of the latter process are proposed. The models postulate that it requires spine motility and may involve the relocation of existing spines from nonactivated boutons or the outgrowth of newly formed spines for specific synaptogenesis with single-synapse boutons activated by the conditioning stimulation.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Experience-dependent activation patterns in human brain during visual-motor associative learning.

Multiple brain regions, including parietal and frontal cortical areas, seem to participate in learning and rehearsing associations between spatially defined visual cues and appropriate motor responses. However, because most previous studies have related learning to changes in brain activation according to elapsed time or number of trials but not categories based on performance, it remains unclear how and when areas implicated in learning sensory-motor associations actually participate in the process. The current experiment used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine changes in brain activation when participants learned to associate an arbitrarily located visual cue with a finger movement. Associative trials were categorized as incorrect, first correct, or subsequent correct. Participants also performed a spatially compatible visual-motor control task. A group analysis revealed four major findings addressing the behavioral processes occurring during forming and rehearsing visual-motor rules. First, brain networks related to processing associative information, through initial learning to rehearsal, yielded more activation in a myriad of neocortical structures than did a simple motor task. Second, we revealed frontal and parietal areas that differentially processed errors and correct responses. Third, we found frontal-parietal networks that seemed to mediate the transition of learning to rehearsing arbitrary visual-motor associations and that this activation exhibited dynamic characteristics. Last, we found a frontal-parietal network that appeared to have a key role in expressing the learned sensory-motor association. The current results provide a foundation for understanding how neocortical structures participate in the various behavioral processes that combine to form and consolidate novel and arbitrary sensory-motor associations.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Effect of sensory modality for presentation and word imagery on paired-associate learning.

Recall performance on a paired-associated learning task was investigated as a function of word imagery modality (visual or auditory), presentation mode (visual or auditory), and sex. Analysis showed greater recall of visual imagery words, and the results are consistent with Paivio's (1971) conceptual-peg hypothesis. Visual presentation of word lists produced greater recall than auditory presentation, and females exhibited greater recall performance than did males. A predicted interaction between modality for presentation and for word imagery did not reach statistical significance. The implications for future research with sensory imagery in learning is discussed.

Female↗
PubMed1996

Associative learning down-regulates PKC beta 2- and gamma-immunoreactivity in astrocytes.

We showed previously that associative learning induced a twofold increase in protein kinase C gamma-immunoreactivity (PKC gamma-ir) in rabbit CA1 pyramidal neurons, whereas subicular neurons remained unchanged. Here, we investigated the effects of associative learning on PKC-positive astrocytes by determining their numerical density in the CA1 region and the subiculum of naive, pseudoconditioned and trace eyeblink conditioned rabbits. Associative learning induced a 70-80% reduction in the number of PKC beta 2- and gamma-positive astrocytes in the CA1 region, but not in the subiculum. No changes were found in the number of PKC alpha- or beta 1-positive astrocytes in either hippocampal subregion. These results suggest a conditioning-specific downregulation of PKC beta 2 and gamma in a subset of astrocytes in a brain region where a simultaneous alteration in neuronal PKC gamma was evident.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Large-scale functional connectivity in associative learning: interrelations of the rat auditory, visual, and limbic systems.

Large-scale functional connectivity in associative learning: interrelations of the rat auditory, visual, and limbic systems. J. Neurophysiol. 80: 3148-3162, 1998. Functional relations between specialized parts of the brain may be important determinants of learned behaviors. To study this, we examined the interrelations of the auditory system with several extraauditory structures in two groups of rats having different behavioral histories. Both groups were trained to associate a tone conditional stimulus (CS) with an aversive unconditional stimulus (US). For one group, a light presented with the tone predicted the absence of the US (group TL-). In the other group, the light was a neutral stimulus (group TL0). Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) incorporation was measured in the presence of the tone-light compound. Because the tone-light compound was physically identical for both groups, neural differences between groups reflected differences in the learned associative properties of the stimuli. Covariances of FDG uptake in the auditory system and extraauditory structures were examined using partial least squares. Three strong covariance or functional connectivity patterns were identified. The first pattern mainly reflected similarities between groups, with strong interrelations between the subcortical auditory system and the thalamocortical visual system, cerebellum, deep cerebellar nuclei, and midline thalamus. This pattern of interactions may represent part of a common circuit for relaying the associative value of the tone CS to the cerebellum and the midline thalamus. The external nucleus of the inferior colliculus and medial division of the medial geniculate nucleus were associated more strongly with this pattern for group TL-, which was interpreted as representing the change of the associative value of the tone by the light, mediated through extraauditory influences on these two regions. A second pattern involved midbrain auditory regions, superior colliculus, zona incerta, and subiculum and was stronger for group TL0. The relations between midbrain structures may represent the excitatory conditioned response (CR) evoked by the tone in this group. The final pattern was strongest in group TL- and involved interrelations of the thalamocortical auditory system with hippocampus, basolateral amygdala, and hypothalamus. This pattern may represent the learned inhibition of the CR to the tone in the presence of the light. These findings are consistent with behavioral studies suggesting that at least two types of associations are formed during associative learning. One is the sensory relation of the stimuli and another is the relation between the CS and the affective components of the US. These behavioral associations are mapped to the patterns of functional connectivity between auditory and extraauditory regions.

Acoustic Stimulation↗