Lesions of the inferior olive do not affect long- or short-term habituation of the acoustic startle response in rats

Short- and long-term habituation of the acoustic startle response were assessed in a group of inferior olive-lesioned rats. Neither short- and long-term habituation, nor the performance of the reflex, were affected by the lesion. Since the cerebellar vermis is essential for long-term habituation of this reflex, we suggest that climbing fibres are not involved in this form of learning, which would therefore be mediated by the other cerebellar input, presumably the mossy fibres.

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