Classical conditioning in 3-, 30-, and 45-month-old rabbits: Behavioral learning and hippocampal unit activity

Woodruff-Pak, Diana S.; Lavond, David G.; Logan, Christine G.; Thompson, Richard F.

doi:10.1016/0197-4580(87)90018-2

Cited by 94 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Human subjects have demonstrable age-dependent heterogeneity in their ability to successfully acquire a conditioned eyeblink task (43). Increased variance in acquisition rates in rabbit eyeblink conditioning has also been reported, using a relatively simpler behavioral criterion (57). As the results of the current study also demonstrate (and as numerous other studies with a variety of systems have also shown), animals of the same age can differ significantly from one another across multiple behavioral measures.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

“…As can be seen in Table 1, seldom is only a single one of these factors different between studies, thus making causative declarations assertive rather than definitive. Comparisons of our own data with that from another study of aging rabbits using a trace conditioned NM task and an airpuff US (57) indicate that acquisition with a 100 ms duration CS may be somewhat faster than in tasks with longer CS durations. Our 2-month-old rabbits reached a criterion of 8 out of 10 CRs in 309 ± 28 trials, while 3-month-old rabbits in the earlier study (57) reached the same criterion in 349 trials (variance not reported).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 47%

“…Comparisons of our own data with that from another study of aging rabbits using a trace conditioned NM task and an airpuff US (57) indicate that acquisition with a 100 ms duration CS may be somewhat faster than in tasks with longer CS durations. Our 2-month-old rabbits reached a criterion of 8 out of 10 CRs in 309 ± 28 trials, while 3-month-old rabbits in the earlier study (57) reached the same criterion in 349 trials (variance not reported). Our 30-month-old rabbits reached a criterion of 8 out of 10 CRs in 705 ± 144 trials, while 30-month-old rabbits in the earlier study (57) reached the same criterion in 1058 trials (variance also not reported).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 47%

“…This and more extensive assessment of hearing sensitivity is unfortunately rare in the rabbit learning literature. Although the importance of eliminating sensory-rather than learning-dependent sources of error from learning studies has been stressed (25,33,37), a contrary opinion has been stated that such testing is not necessary due to prior testing in other laboratories (57).…”

Section: Subjectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…No significant differences in the number of trials required to reach criterion were found in posttests comparing acquisition of 30-month and 36-month-old rabbits (p > 0.97), suggesting that a plateau in age-associated learning impairment may have been reached by 30 months of age. It is unlikely that this plateau is stable, as limited unpublished data from Richard Thompson's laboratory has been reported indicating that rabbits 60 months of age are significantly slower than 36-month-old rabbits at acquiring a delay conditioned eyeblink task [see (55,57)]. …”

Section: Comparisons Of Acquisition In Trace and Delay Conditioning Pmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Trace eyeblink conditioning in rabbits demonstrates heterogeneity of learning ability both between and within age groups

Thompson

Moyer

Disterhoft

1996

Neurobiology of Aging

106

101

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conditioning in rabbits demonstrates heterogeneity of learning ability both between and within age groups. NEUROBIOL AGING 17(4) 619-629, 1996.-Rabbits 2 to 41 months of age were conditioned in the 500 ms trace eyeblink paradigm to cross-sectionally define the age of onset and the severity of age-associated impairments in acquisition of this relatively difficult hippocampally dependent task. Using a strict behavioral criterion of 80% conditioned responses (CRs), age-associated learning impairments were significant by 24 months of age. Among rabbits that successfully reached this criterion, impairments in acquisition plateaued at 30 months of age. However, the proportion of severely impaired rabbits (that failed to reach the 80% criterion) continued to increase age dependently. Using an easier criterion of 8 out of 10 CRs, behavioral impairments were not detected until 30 months of age, and cases of severe impairment (failure to reach criterion) were rare. Additional controls demonstrated that the deficits observed were not attributable to nonassociative changes that might have artifactually skewed the data. Even severely impaired 36-month-old rabbits were able to reach a criterion of 80% CRs when switched from a trace to a delay conditioning task that is not hippocampally dependent. The results are discussed in terms of operationally defining and predicting behavioral effects of aging, hypothetical neural mechanisms, and efficient experimental design.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 47%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 47%

Section: Subjectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Comparisons Of Acquisition In Trace and Delay Conditioning Pmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Trace eyeblink conditioning in rabbits demonstrates heterogeneity of learning ability both between and within age groups

Thompson

Moyer

Disterhoft

1996

Neurobiology of Aging

106

101

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Activity of hippocampal pyramidal neurons during trace eyeblink conditioning

1998

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Biological Models of Associative Learning

Steinmetz

Kim

Thompson

2003

Handbook of Psychology

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Over the last 100 years or so, a great deal of progress has been made in delineating the behavioral properties of simple associative learning. In addition, much progress has been made in defining the neural circuitries involved in encoding learning and memory processes in the nervous system and also some of the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie the encoding processes. Advances in our understanding of the behavioral and neural bases of simple associative learning are presented in this chapter. Some basic definition important for associative learning and memory are first presented, and then current data from a variety of invertebrate preparations that have proven useful for advancing our understanding of cellular and molecular correlates of learning and memory are covered. The use of simple spinal cord preparations is presented next, and this is followed by a detailed examination of fear conditioning and the brain systems involved in encoding this simple form of emotional learning. We next review the relatively large literature on classical and instrumental conditioning of discrete response. Featured in this final section of the chapter are a variety of current data about the brain systems that are involved in encoding classical eyeblink conditioning, arguably the most studied associative learning paradigm.

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Classical conditioning in 3-, 30-, and 45-month-old rabbits: Behavioral learning and hippocampal unit activity

Cited by 94 publications

References 25 publications

Trace eyeblink conditioning in rabbits demonstrates heterogeneity of learning ability both between and within age groups

Trace eyeblink conditioning in rabbits demonstrates heterogeneity of learning ability both between and within age groups

Activity of hippocampal pyramidal neurons during trace eyeblink conditioning

Biological Models of Associative Learning

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