A Longer Interstimulus Interval Yields Better Learning in Adults and Young Adolescents

Kjell, Katarina; Löwgren, Karolina; Rasmussen, Anders

doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00299

Cited by 8 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Findings were most obvious in the first conditioning block. This agrees with the observation that learning occurs mainly in the first block of ten conditioning trials in humans (Kjell et al, 2018). Previous findings on accelerated eyeblink conditioning are based on experiments using the same CS in fear conditioning preceding eyeblink conditioning in rodents (Neufeld and Mintz, 2001).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Humans, however, acquire conditioned eyeblinks much faster than rodents (Spence, 1966). As stated above, the first conditioned eyeblink responses occur frequently within the first ten paired CS/US trials (Kjell et al, 2018). Much of the learning is achieved at the end of a single session, and additional increase of CR incidences across multiple sessions is comparatively small (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Interaction of Fear Conditioning with Eyeblink Conditioning Supports the Sensory Gating Hypothesis of the Amygdala in Men

Inoue

Ernst

Ferber

et al. 2020

eNeuro

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Inhibition of the amygdala slows down acquisition of conditioned eyeblink responses (CRs). Based on the two-stage or two-factor theory of aversive conditioning, amygdala-dependent conditioned fear is a necessary prerequisite to acquire eyeblink CRs, but is no longer needed after eyeblink CRs are attained. According to the sensory gating hypothesis of the amygdala, on the other hand, the amygdala modulates the salience of unconditioned and conditioned stimuli (US and CS) in eyeblink conditioning. We tested these two opposing assumptions in five groups of 20 young and healthy men. On day 1, three groups underwent fear acquisition training followed by acquisition of eyeblink CRs. On the next day (day 2), extinction was tested. In Group 1, fear and eyeblink extinction trials overlapped; in Group 2, fear and eyeblink extinction trials alternated; and in Group 3, fear extinction trials were followed by eyeblink extinction trials. Groups 4 and 5 were control conditions testing fear and eyeblink conditioning only. Preceding fear acquisition training facilitated acquisition of conditioned eyeblinks. Concomitant fear extinction impeded extinction of eyeblink CRs, which was accompanied by increased autonomic responses. Fear extinction, however, was not significantly altered by concomitant eyeblink extinction. Recall of fear CRs on day 2 was facilitated in Group 1 suggesting additive response summation. Findings are difficult to explain with the two-stage theory of aversive conditioning which predicts suppression of conditioned fear once conditioned eyeblinks are acquired. Facilitated acquisition and impeded extinction of eyeblink CRs, however, are in accordance with the sensory gating hypothesis of the amygdala. 4 Significance Statement It has been proposed that conditioned eyeblink responses, once established, may help to facilitate fear extinction. This has potential clinical relevance because extinction of learned fear responses is at the core of exposure therapy in the treatment of many anxiety disorders. Based on our findings this proposal has to be rejected. Our findings do not support the twostage theory of aversive conditioning which predicts suppression of conditioned fear once conditioned eyeblinks are acquired. Rather, we found that concomitant extinction of conditioned eyeblink and fear responses facilitated recall of conditioned fear responses, and impeded extinction of conditioned eyeblinks. Findings are best explained by increased salience of conditioned stimuli, and therefore support the sensory gating hypothesis of the amygdala.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Interaction of Fear Conditioning with Eyeblink Conditioning Supports the Sensory Gating Hypothesis of the Amygdala in Men

Inoue

Ernst

Ferber

et al. 2020

eNeuro

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“…The adults in our study show more CRs, greater prism adaptation, less tapping variability, and faster RT, than the children. Our previous studies showed that children older than 9 years old can reach the level of performance as young adults in acquiring CRs during eyeblink conditioning with a 500 ms ISI, whereas children younger than 9 years old acquire considerably less CRs 30,31 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…We also included 44 adults (26 females and 18 males), age 18-55 years (mean age = 27.9 years, SD = 8.2), recruited from the student population at Lund University. From the original sample size of 49 adult participants 31 , one was excluded due to very late reaction time responses (median = 364 ms) (method described below) and four due to technical issues during the eyeblink registrations. The adults displayed normal hearing (screening level 20 dB HL with pure tone audiometry by the modified Hughson-Westlake method, ISO 8253-1, with GSI 66 screening audiometer), 41 adults were right-handed and 3 left-handed.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The intertrial interval (ITI) was programmed to vary pseudo-randomly between 15 and 25 seconds. Although it is commonplace to train humans for 60-100 trials in eyeblink conditioning, learning curves reveal that learning takes place primarily in the first 10-20 trials 30,31,38 . Therefore, to assess the performance during eyeblink conditioning, we used the percentage of conditioned responses (CRs) and the onset latencies in blocks 2-5: 40 trials, mainly containing paired trials.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Weak correlations between cerebellar tests

Löwgren

Bååth

Rasmussen

2020

Sci Rep

Self Cite

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Eyeblink conditioning, finger tapping, and prism adaptation are three tasks that have been linked to the cerebellum. Previous research suggests that these tasks recruit distinct but partially overlapping parts of the cerebellum, as well as different extra-cerebellar networks. However, the relationships between the performances on these tasks remain unclear. Here we tested eyeblink conditioning, finger tapping, and prism adaptation in 42 children and 44 adults and estimated the degree of correlation between the performance measures. The results show that performance on all three tasks improves with age in typically developing school-aged children. However, the correlations between the performance measures of the different tasks were consistently weak and without any consistent directions. This reinforces the view that eyeblink conditioning, finger tapping, and prism adaptation rely on distinct mechanisms. Consequently, performance on these tasks cannot be used separately to assess a common cerebellar function or to make general conclusions about cerebellar dysfunction. However, together, these three behavioral tasks have the potential to contribute to a nuanced picture of human cerebellar functions during development. In eyeblink conditioning, an initially neutral conditional stimulus (CS), often a tone, is repeatedly presented before an unconditional stimulus (US), often an air-puff to the cornea, which elicits a reflexive unconditional response (UR). Eventually, the CS acquires the ability to elicit a conditioned blink response (CR), that occurs before the US. In finger tapping, a subject is asked to follow a rhythmic stimulus, often auditory, and then reproduce the tempo after the auditory stimulus has ended. In prism adaptation, the subject wears wedge prisms that displace the visual field laterally, causing a pointing error that diminishes quickly with training. Research on animals and humans shows that the cerebellum plays a critical role in the acquisition and expression of CRs during eyeblink conditioning 1-5. In finger tapping, the cerebellum is recruited during the ongoing sensorimotor timing control 6. The cerebellum's importance for eyeblink conditioning and finger tapping is perhaps unsurprising given that both tasks require precise timing in the sub-second range-which is a key function of the cerebellum 7,8. Indeed, based on their shared reliance on precise timing, it has been suggested that finger tapping and eyeblink conditioning depend on the same neural mechanisms 9. Prism adaptation, by contrast, is thought to rely on cerebellar spatial processing 10,11. While there is ample evidence showing that performance in eyeblink conditioning, finger tapping, and prism adaptation all involve the cerebellum 12-14 , it is also clear from animal studies and fMRI studies on humans that these three tasks rely on partially separate cerebellar and extra-cerebellar neuroanatomical sites 15-17. Eyeblink conditioning engages Larsell's cortical lobule VI 18,19. Studies using fMRI in humans show that finger tapping a...

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Augmenting salivation, but not evaluations, through subliminal conditioning of eating-related words

Passarelli

Amd

Oliveira

et al. 2022

Behavioural Processes

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A Longer Interstimulus Interval Yields Better Learning in Adults and Young Adolescents

Cited by 8 publications

References 43 publications

Interaction of Fear Conditioning with Eyeblink Conditioning Supports the Sensory Gating Hypothesis of the Amygdala in Men

Interaction of Fear Conditioning with Eyeblink Conditioning Supports the Sensory Gating Hypothesis of the Amygdala in Men

Weak correlations between cerebellar tests

Augmenting salivation, but not evaluations, through subliminal conditioning of eating-related words

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