Multiple response measures during classical conditioning

Animal research assessing multiple responses during Pavlovian conditioning has revealed a dichotomy between the central nervous system (CNS) substrates for somatomotor and visceral CRs. These findings have implications for the study of clinical/applied problems in human subjects, since differences in the acquisition functions for these response systems may suggest which CNS structures are involved in various neuropsychiatric disorders. The present paper describes methods and procedures utilized to assess the somatomotor conditioned eyeblink (EB) response and accompanying visceral changes in human subjects. Methods are described for assessing concomitant EB conditioned and unconditioned responses and the accompanying heart rate, skin conductance, and respiratory changes during Pavlovian conditioning in human subjects. It is stressed that utilization of concomitant conditioning of these different response systems may lead to inferences regarding the central nervous system structures involved in a variety of different kinds of clinical problems.