Abstract
Several studies in nonhuman primates have shown that neurons in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex have activity that persists throughout the delay period in delayed matching to sample tasks, and age-related changes in the microcolumnar organization of the prefrontal cortex are significantly correlated with age-related declines in cognition. Activity that persists beyond the presentation of a stimulus could mediate working memory processes, and disruption of those processes could account for memory deficits that often accompany the aging process. These potential memory and aging mechanisms are being systematically examined with eyeblink conditioning paradigms in nonprimate mammalian animal models including the rabbit. The trace version of the conditioning paradigm is a particularly good system to explore declarative memory since humans do not acquire trace conditioning if they are unable to become cognitively aware of the association between a conditioning tone and an airpuff to the eye. This conditioning paradigm has been used to show that the hippocampus and cerebellum interact functionally since both conditioned responses and conditioned hippocampal pyramidal neuron activity are abolished following lesions of the cerebellar nuclei and since hippocampal lesions prevent or abolish trace conditioned blinks. However, because there are no direct connections between the hippocampal formation and the cerebellum, and because the hippocampus is not necessary for trace conditioning after a period of consolidation has elapsed, we and others have been examining the prefrontal cortex for its role in forebrain-dependent trace eyeblink conditioning. This review examines some of the literature which suggests that the prefrontal cortex serves to orchestrate a neuronal network that interacts with the cerebellum to mediate adaptively timed conditioned responses.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 318-326 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Behavioral Neuroscience |
| Volume | 125 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jun 1 2011 |
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Keywords
- Caudate
- Cerebellum
- Hippocampus
- Red nucleus
- Trace conditioning
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Behavioral Neuroscience
Cite this
}
Exploring prefrontal cortical memory mechanisms with eyeblink conditioning. / Weiss, Craig; Disterhoft, John F.
In: Behavioral Neuroscience, Vol. 125, No. 3, 01.06.2011, p. 318-326.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Exploring prefrontal cortical memory mechanisms with eyeblink conditioning
AU - Weiss, Craig
AU - Disterhoft, John F
PY - 2011/6/1
Y1 - 2011/6/1
N2 - Several studies in nonhuman primates have shown that neurons in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex have activity that persists throughout the delay period in delayed matching to sample tasks, and age-related changes in the microcolumnar organization of the prefrontal cortex are significantly correlated with age-related declines in cognition. Activity that persists beyond the presentation of a stimulus could mediate working memory processes, and disruption of those processes could account for memory deficits that often accompany the aging process. These potential memory and aging mechanisms are being systematically examined with eyeblink conditioning paradigms in nonprimate mammalian animal models including the rabbit. The trace version of the conditioning paradigm is a particularly good system to explore declarative memory since humans do not acquire trace conditioning if they are unable to become cognitively aware of the association between a conditioning tone and an airpuff to the eye. This conditioning paradigm has been used to show that the hippocampus and cerebellum interact functionally since both conditioned responses and conditioned hippocampal pyramidal neuron activity are abolished following lesions of the cerebellar nuclei and since hippocampal lesions prevent or abolish trace conditioned blinks. However, because there are no direct connections between the hippocampal formation and the cerebellum, and because the hippocampus is not necessary for trace conditioning after a period of consolidation has elapsed, we and others have been examining the prefrontal cortex for its role in forebrain-dependent trace eyeblink conditioning. This review examines some of the literature which suggests that the prefrontal cortex serves to orchestrate a neuronal network that interacts with the cerebellum to mediate adaptively timed conditioned responses.
AB - Several studies in nonhuman primates have shown that neurons in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex have activity that persists throughout the delay period in delayed matching to sample tasks, and age-related changes in the microcolumnar organization of the prefrontal cortex are significantly correlated with age-related declines in cognition. Activity that persists beyond the presentation of a stimulus could mediate working memory processes, and disruption of those processes could account for memory deficits that often accompany the aging process. These potential memory and aging mechanisms are being systematically examined with eyeblink conditioning paradigms in nonprimate mammalian animal models including the rabbit. The trace version of the conditioning paradigm is a particularly good system to explore declarative memory since humans do not acquire trace conditioning if they are unable to become cognitively aware of the association between a conditioning tone and an airpuff to the eye. This conditioning paradigm has been used to show that the hippocampus and cerebellum interact functionally since both conditioned responses and conditioned hippocampal pyramidal neuron activity are abolished following lesions of the cerebellar nuclei and since hippocampal lesions prevent or abolish trace conditioned blinks. However, because there are no direct connections between the hippocampal formation and the cerebellum, and because the hippocampus is not necessary for trace conditioning after a period of consolidation has elapsed, we and others have been examining the prefrontal cortex for its role in forebrain-dependent trace eyeblink conditioning. This review examines some of the literature which suggests that the prefrontal cortex serves to orchestrate a neuronal network that interacts with the cerebellum to mediate adaptively timed conditioned responses.
KW - Caudate
KW - Cerebellum
KW - Hippocampus
KW - Red nucleus
KW - Trace conditioning
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79958720141&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=79958720141&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1037/a0023520
DO - 10.1037/a0023520
M3 - Article
C2 - 21517143
AN - SCOPUS:79958720141
VL - 125
SP - 318
EP - 326
JO - Behavioral Neuroscience
JF - Behavioral Neuroscience
SN - 0735-7044
IS - 3
ER -