Neural substrates of eyeblink conditioning: acquisition and retention.

By Kimberly M. Christian, Richard F. Thompson. 2003

610 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Classical conditioning of the eyeblink reflex to a neutral stimulus that predicts an aversive stimulus is a basic form of associative learning. Acquisition and retention of this learned response require the cerebellum and associated sensory and motor pathways and engage several other brain regions including the hippocampus, neocortex, neostriatum, septum, and amygdala. The cerebellum and its associated circuitry form the essential neural system for delay eyeblink conditioning. Trace eyeblink conditioning, a learning paradigm in which the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli are noncontiguous, requires both the cerebellum and the hippocampus and exhibits striking parallels to declarative memory formation in humans. Identification of the neural structures critical to the development and maintenance of the conditioned eyeblink response is an essential precursor to the investigation of the mechanisms responsible for the formation of these associative memories. In this review, we describe the evidence used to identify the neural substrates of classical eyeblink conditioning and potential mechanisms of memory formation in critical regions of the hippocampus and cerebellum. Addressing a central goal of behavioral neuroscience, exploitation of this simple yet robust model of learning and memory has yielded one of the most comprehensive descriptions to date of the physical basis of a learned behavior in mammals.

Subfields: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience, Cognitive Neuroscience

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Citations in the corpus

Dopaminergic neurons write and update memories with cell-type-specific rules (2016, background): “In classical conditioning, both the rate of learning and the valence of the resultant memory depend on the relative timing between the CS and the US (Christian and Thompson, 2003; Gerber et al., 2014).”
The neuroscience of mammalian associative learning. (2005, neutral): “(Modified from Christian & Thompson 2003.)”
Deep Cerebellar Nuclei Play an Important Role in Two-Tone Discrimination on Delay Eyeblink Conditioning in C57BL/6 Mice (2013, background): “The neuronal circuit for delay eyeblink conditioning has been extensively examined in rabbits, and the cerebellum is critical for conditioning in many species [1–8].”
Memory Engram Cells Have Come of Age. (2015, neutral): “Readers are referred to other reviews for the discussion of earlier efforts to identify brain regions or 5 systems that play important roles in various forms of memory (Horn et al., 2004; Martin and Morris, 2002; Christian and Thompson, 2003; Weinburger, 2004).”
Neuronal signalling of fear memory (2004, background): “In fact, neuronal plasticity in the cerebellum is crucial for the acquisition and expression of eyeblink conditionin”
Consensus Paper: Roles of the Cerebellum in Motor Control—The Diversity of Ideas on Cerebellar Involvement in Movement (2011, background): “Animal experiments show that the interposed nuclei, but not the dentate or fastigial nuclei, are critically involved [74].”
In search of memory traces. (2005, methodology): “Indeed, Purkinje neurons show substantial changes in CS-evoked discharge frequency over the course of training, with many showing learning-induced decrease in discharge frequency, as could be expected if LTD developed (Christian et al. 2002, Christian & Thompson 2003).”
Neural plasticity in the ageing brain (2006, background): “Acquisition and retention of the learned eyeblink response both require the involvement of the hippocampus, as well as other brain structures such as the cerebellu”