A neural network model for trace conditioning
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 27, 2026

Trace Fear Conditioning in Mice
Published on: March 21, 2014
Tadashi Yamazaki1, Shigeru Tanaka
1Lab. for Visual Neurocomputing, RIKEN Brain Science Institute, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan. tyam@brain.riken.jp
Abstract:
We studied the dynamics of a neural network that has both recurrent excitatory and random inhibitory connections. Neurons started to become active when a relatively weak transient excitatory signal was presented and the activity was sustained due to the recurrent excitatory connections. The sustained activity stopped when a strong transient signal was presented or when neurons were disinhibited. The random inhibitory connections modulated the activity patterns of neurons so that the patterns evolved without recurrence with time. Hence, a time passage between the onsets of the two transient signals was represented by the sequence of activity patterns. We then applied this model to represent the trace eye blink conditioning, which is mediated by the hippocampus. We assumed this model as CA3 of the hippocampus and considered an output neuron corresponding to a neuron in CA1. The activity pattern of the output neuron was similar to that of CA1 neurons during trace eye blink conditioning, which was experimentally observed.
Related Concept Videos
Neural Circuits
Neuronal pools are collections of nerve cells with similar functions and interact through chemical and electrical signals. These pools include both interneurons (the central neural circuit nodes that...
Associative Learning
Classical conditioning, also known...
Classical Conditioning
Ivan Pavlov observed that dogs...
Principles of Classical Conditioning
During the...
Real-World Application of Classical Conditioning
Higher-order, or second-order, conditioning occurs when a neutral stimulus becomes associated with an already established conditioned stimulus through repeated pairings. For instance, if a dog has been...
Classical Conditioning in Daily Life
John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner famously demonstrated the development of fear through classical conditioning in their experiment with Little Albert. They paired the...

