Classical conditioning of the nictitating membrane response of the rabbit

SummaryThe nictitating membrane response (NMR) of 15 rabbits was conditioned to light and white noise conditional stimuli (CSs) using a periorbital shock unconditional stimulus (US). Unilateral lesions of the inferior olive were then made. Lesions restricted to the medial parts of rostral dorsal accessory olive (DAO) and principal olive (PO) abolished conditioning and prevented subsequent acquisition on either side. Unconditional responses to the US were intact. Lesions in all other parts of the olive did not impair conditioning. The effective lesions were located in that part of the olive which supplies somatosensory information from the face to cerebellar lobule HVI. Lobule HVI is also essential for NMR conditioning. We suggest that this region of the inferior olive is part of a circuit which provides US information to the cerebellar cortex during NMR conditioning.

[1]  R. F. Thompson,et al.  Neuronal responses of the rabbit cerebellum during acquisition and performance of a classically conditioned nictitating membrane-eyelid response , 1984, The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.

[2]  G. A. Clark,et al.  Effects of lesions of cerebellar nuclei on conditioned behavioral and hippocampal neuronal responses , 1984, Brain Research.

[3]  J. T. Weber,et al.  The projection of the superior colliculus upon the inferior olivary complex of the cat: an autoradiographic and horseradish peroxidase study , 1978, Brain Research.

[4]  J. Houk,et al.  Somatosensory properties of the inferior olive of the cat , 1983, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[5]  J. Simpson,et al.  Climbing fiber responses evoked in vestibulocerebellum of rabbit from visual system. , 1973, Journal of neurophysiology.

[6]  Inferior olive lesion induces long-lasting functional modification in the Purkinje cells , 2004, Experimental Brain Research.

[7]  A. Brodal,et al.  The tectopontine projection in the cat: An experimental anatomical study with comments on pathways for teleceptive impulses to the cerebellum , 1973, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[8]  H. Collewijn,et al.  The efferent connections of the nucleus of the optic tract and the superior colliculus in the rabbit , 1982, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[9]  M. Ikeda Projections from the spinal and the principal sensory nuclei of the trigeminal nerve to the cerebellar cortex in the cat, as studied by retrograde transport of horseradish peroxidase , 1979, Neuroscience Letters.

[10]  J. Desclin,et al.  The olivocerebellar system. I. Delayed and slow inhibitory effects: An overlooked salient feature of cerebellar climbing fibers , 1980, Brain Research.

[11]  G. A. Clark,et al.  The engram found? Role of the cerebellum in classical conditioning of nictitating membrane and eyelid responses , 1981 .

[12]  K. Berkley,et al.  Projections to the inferior olive of the cat I. Comparisons of input from the dorsal column nuclei, the lateral cervical nucleus, the spino‐olivary pathways, the cerebral cortex and the cerebellum , 1978, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[13]  G. A. Clark,et al.  Initial localization of the memory trace for a basic form of learning. , 1982, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[14]  M. Wiesendanger,et al.  Organization of climbing fibre projections to the cerebellar cortex from trigeminal cutaneous afferents and from the SI face area of the cerebral cortex in the cat. , 1975, The Journal of physiology.

[15]  P. Strata,et al.  The inhibitory effect of the olivocerebellar input on the cerebellar Purkinje cells in the rat † , 1982, The Journal of physiology.

[16]  K. Berkley,et al.  Projections to the inferior olive of the cat II. Comparisons of input from the gracile, cuneate and the spinal trigeminal nuclel , 1978, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[17]  O. Larsell,et al.  The morphogenesis and adult pattern of the lobules and fissures of the cerebellum of the white rat , 1952, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[18]  J. Albus A Theory of Cerebellar Function , 1971 .

[19]  M Glickstein,et al.  Tectopontine pathway in the cat: laminar distribution of cells of origin and visual properties of target cells in dorsolateral pontine nucleus. , 1979, Journal of neurophysiology.

[20]  R. F. Thompson,et al.  Cerebellum: essential involvement in the classically conditioned eyelid response. , 1984, Science.

[21]  M. Wiesendanger,et al.  Climbing fibre inputs to cerebellar Purkinje cells from trigeminal cutaneous afferents and the SI face area of the cerebral cortex in the cat. , 1975, The Journal of physiology.

[22]  K. Kawamura The pontine projection from the inferior colliculus in the cat. An experimental anatomical study , 1975, Brain Research.

[23]  M. Glickstein,et al.  Discrete lesions of the cerebellar cortex abolish the classically conditioned nictitating membrane response of the rabbit , 1984, Behavioural Brain Research.

[24]  P. Gilbert A theory of memory that explains the function and structure of the cerebellum. , 1974, Brain research.

[25]  M Glickstein,et al.  Cerebellar targets of visual pontine cells in the cat , 1984, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[26]  Alf Brodal,et al.  Experimentelle Untersuchungen über die olivocerebellare Lokalisation , 1940 .

[27]  J. Voogd,et al.  The Olivocerebellar Projection in the Cat , 1982 .

[28]  M. Glickstein,et al.  Classical conditioning of the nictitating membrane response of the rabbit , 2004, Experimental Brain Research.