The ontogeny of interstimulus interval (ISI) discrimination of the conditioned eyeblink response in rats

Discrimination of the eyeblink conditioned response (CR) between conditioned stimuli (CSs) of different durations and modalities was examined across development in rats. Interstimulus interval (ISI) discrimination was evident at Postnatal Days 23-34 in Experiment 1, and earlier CR peak latencies and...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inBehavioral neuroscience Vol. 120; no. 5; p. 1057
Main Authors Brown, Kevin L, Pagani, Jerome H, Stanton, Mark E
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.10.2006
Subjects
Acoustic Stimulation
Animals
Animals, Newborn
Blinking
Conditioning, Classical
Discrimination Learning
Female
Male
Memory, Short-Term
Photic Stimulation
Rats
Rats, Long-Evans
Reaction Time
Time Perception
Weaning
Online AccessGet more information

Cover

More Information
Summary:Discrimination of the eyeblink conditioned response (CR) between conditioned stimuli (CSs) of different durations and modalities was examined across development in rats. Interstimulus interval (ISI) discrimination was evident at Postnatal Days 23-34 in Experiment 1, and earlier CR peak latencies and enhanced CR amplitudes were seen to the long CS in the ISI discrimination group relative to a control group receiving the short CS without reinforcement. Experiment 2 showed that early CR peak latencies and enhanced CR amplitudes to the long CS in the ISI discrimination group were due to associative pairing of the short CS and unconditioned stimulus. Experiment 3 demonstrated ISI discrimination in adults that was improved relative to younger subjects, but with no enhancement of CR amplitude to the long CS in the ISI discrimination group. Cerebellar cortical maturation may influence the ontogeny of CR timing.
ISSN:0735-7044
DOI:10.1037/0735-7044.120.5.1057