Mechanisms of higher-order learning in the amygdala

• Published in: Behavioural brain research Vol. 414; p. 113435
• Main Authors: Gostolupce, Dilara, Iordanova, Mihaela D., Lay, Belinda P.P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 24.09.2021
• Subjects: Animals; Association Learning - physiology; Avoidance Learning - physiology; Basolateral Nuclear Complex - physiology; Behavior, Animal - physiology; Cerebral Cortex - physiology; Conditioning, Psychological - physiology; Fear conditioning; Learning; Motivation - physiology; Orbitofrontal cortex; Perirhinal cortex; Retrosplenial cortex; Second-order conditioning; Sensory preconditioning; Learning; Orbitofrontal cortex; Retrosplenial cortex; Perirhinal cortex; Second-order conditioning; Fear conditioning; Sensory preconditioning
• ISSN: 0166-4328; 1872-7549
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2021.113435

Adaptive behaviour is under the potent control of environmental cues. Such cues can acquire value by virtue of their associations with outcomes of motivational significance, be they appetitive or aversive. There are at least two ways through which an environmental cue can acquire value, through first-order and higher-order conditioning. In first-order conditioning, a neutral cue is directly paired with an outcome of motivational significance. In higher-order conditioning, a cue is indirectly associated with motivational events via a directly conditioned first-order stimulus. The present article reviews some of the associations that support learning in first- and higher-order conditioning, as well as the role of the BLA and the molecular mechanisms involved in these two types of learning.