Operant conditioned potentials, centrally evoked at random intervals

J. Peter Rosenfeld; Bruce E. Hetzler; Paul A. Birkel; Robert A. Kowatch; Diane N. Antoinetti

doi:10.1016/S0091-6773(76)91434-6

Operant conditioned potentials, centrally evoked at random intervals

J. Peter Rosenfeld^*, Bruce E. Hetzler, Paul A. Birkel, Robert A. Kowatch, Diane N. Antoinetti

^*Corresponding author for this work

Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

16 Scopus citations

Abstract

Rats were operantly conditioned for both increasing and decreasing the amplitude of one component of both visual and somatic sensory evoked potentials. The potentials were recorded in visual cortex, somatic sensory cortex, or nucleus intercollicularis in the midbrain reticular formation. The visual cortical potentials were evoked by shocks to the optic chiasm. The somatic sensory cortical and subcortical potentials were evoked by shocks to the nucleus subcoeruleus of the pontine reticular formation. The evoking stimuli (shocks) were presented at random intervals. The results rule out trivial mediation of operant neural control and are discussed in these terms.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	305-317
Number of pages	13
Journal	Behavioral Biology
Volume	16
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/S0091-6773(76)91434-6
State	Published - Mar 1976

Funding

Most currently used performance indicators of operant learning involve familiar muscular responses such as bar presses, key pecks, maze runs, etc. In contrast, operant conditioning of neural activity is a procedure involving conditioned events which are potentially independent of motor activity subserving typical (peripheral) behavioral operants. The advantage of having novel operant response systems available is the possibility of using them to obtain new insights about learning mechanisms. For example, until the recent development of the taste-aversion conditioning literature, theorizing about classical conditioning mechanisms was constrained by the misleading notion of an optimal interstimulus interval of about .5 sec. The taste aversion conditioning phenomenon, with an interstimulus interval of several hours, necessitated a 1A preliminary report of portions of these data was presented at the 5th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, New York City, November, 1975. Supported in part by NIH grants 5-50-RR07028 and FR7028-05 and NSF grant 75-17770 to North-western University, (JPR), and NIMH training grants 5TO1MHl1284-06P0 and 5T01MH11284-05 to the Psychology Department, Northwestern University. We thank Drs. P. W. Frey and A. H. Black for comments. Requests for reprints should be addressed to J. Peter Rosenfeld.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Environmental Science
General Earth and Planetary Sciences

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title = "Operant conditioned potentials, centrally evoked at random intervals",

abstract = "Rats were operantly conditioned for both increasing and decreasing the amplitude of one component of both visual and somatic sensory evoked potentials. The potentials were recorded in visual cortex, somatic sensory cortex, or nucleus intercollicularis in the midbrain reticular formation. The visual cortical potentials were evoked by shocks to the optic chiasm. The somatic sensory cortical and subcortical potentials were evoked by shocks to the nucleus subcoeruleus of the pontine reticular formation. The evoking stimuli (shocks) were presented at random intervals. The results rule out trivial mediation of operant neural control and are discussed in these terms.",

author = "Rosenfeld, {J. Peter} and Hetzler, {Bruce E.} and Birkel, {Paul A.} and Kowatch, {Robert A.} and Antoinetti, {Diane N.}",

note = "Funding Information: Most currently used performance indicators of operant learning involve familiar muscular responses such as bar presses, key pecks, maze runs, etc. In contrast, operant conditioning of neural activity is a procedure involving conditioned events which are potentially independent of motor activity subserving typical (peripheral) behavioral operants. The advantage of having novel operant response systems available is the possibility of using them to obtain new insights about learning mechanisms. For example, until the recent development of the taste-aversion conditioning literature, theorizing about classical conditioning mechanisms was constrained by the misleading notion of an optimal interstimulus interval of about .5 sec. The taste aversion conditioning phenomenon, with an interstimulus interval of several hours, necessitated a 1A preliminary report of portions of these data was presented at the 5th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, New York City, November, 1975. Supported in part by NIH grants 5-50-RR07028 and FR7028-05 and NSF grant 75-17770 to North-western University, (JPR), and NIMH training grants 5TO1MHl1284-06P0 and 5T01MH11284-05 to the Psychology Department, Northwestern University. We thank Drs. P. W. Frey and A. H. Black for comments. Requests for reprints should be addressed to J. Peter Rosenfeld.",

year = "1976",

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doi = "10.1016/S0091-6773(76)91434-6",

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Operant conditioned potentials, centrally evoked at random intervals

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