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Classical Short-Delay Eyeblink Conditioning in One-Year-Old Children
Published on: September 1, 2018
Ontogenetic change in the auditory conditioned stimulus pathway for eyeblink conditioning
John H Freeman1, Matthew M Campolattaro
1Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA. john-freeman@uiowa.edu
Learning & Memory (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.)
|November 6, 2008
Summary
The medial auditory thalamus is crucial for auditory eyeblink conditioning in developing rats. Its contribution matures over the first postnatal month, with younger pups showing less reliance on this brain region.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Neuroscience
- Behavioral Neuroscience
Background:
- Auditory eyeblink conditioning is a fundamental learning process.
- The medial auditory thalamus is known to be essential for auditory-dependent eyeblink conditioning in adult rats.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the developmental emergence of neural mechanisms for auditory eyeblink conditioning.
- To determine the role of the medial auditory thalamus in this process during early development.
Main Methods:
- Experiment 1: Used medial auditory thalamus stimulation as a conditioned stimulus (CS) in rat pups at postnatal days (P) 17-18, 24-25, and 31-32.
- Experiment 2: Inactivated the medial auditory thalamus using muscimol in rat pups at the same developmental stages (P17-18, P24-25, P31-32) during auditory conditioning.
Main Results:
- All age groups in Experiment 1 acquired conditioned responses, but the rate of conditioning increased with age.
- In Experiment 2, muscimol inactivation significantly reduced conditioned responses in P24-25 and P31-32 pups, but not in P17-18 pups.
Conclusions:
- The medial auditory thalamus plays a developing role in auditory eyeblink conditioning.
- Thalamic involvement in auditory conditioning matures through the first postnatal month in rats.
