Cardiovascular dynamics during classical appetitive and aversive conditioning in laboratory primates

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Physiology
• Neuroscience
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Understanding the neural regulation of the heart is crucial for analyzing cardiovascular responses to various stimuli.
• Previous research has explored cardiovascular changes during conditioning, but detailed analysis of intraventricular pressure dynamics is less common.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate changes in the rate of rise of left and right intraventricular pressures during aversive and appetitive conditioning in rhesus monkeys.
• To elucidate the role of sympathetic neural input in mediating these cardiovascular alterations during behavioral conditioning.

Main Methods:

• Chair-restrained rhesus monkeys underwent a conditioning paradigm involving a tone followed by either electric shock (aversive) or food pellets (appetitive).
• Measurements included the rate of rise of left and right intraventricular pressures, arterial pressure, and heart rate.
• Analysis focused on conditional cardiovascular responses, including short-latency elevations in pressure derivatives.

Main Results:

• Both aversive and appetitive conditioning elicited significant, short-latency elevations in the rate of rise of intraventricular pressures.
• A marked arterial pressor response and tachycardia were observed as conditional cardiovascular responses.
• The magnitude of the conditional response was slightly larger for the aversive conditioning procedure compared to the appetitive one.

Conclusions:

• Behavioral conditioning significantly alters cardiac function, specifically the dynamics of intraventricular pressure changes.
• These alterations are largely attributable to augmented sympathetic neural input to the heart.
• The study contributes to understanding the nervous regulation of the heart in intact, behaviorally conditioned animals.