Villarreal, R. P. & Steinmetz, J. E. (2005).
Neuroscience and learning: Lessons from studying the involvement of a region of cerebellar cortex in eyeblink classical conditioning.
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 84, 631-
652.
How the nervous system encodes learning and memory processes has interested
researchers for 100 years. Over this span of time, a number of basic
neuroscience methods has been developed to explore the relationship between
learning and the brain, including brain lesion, stimulation, pharmacology,
anatomy, imaging, and recording techniques. In this paper, we summarize how
different research approaches can be employed to generate converging data that
speak to how structures and systems in the brain are involved in simple
associative learning. To accomplish this, we review data regarding the
involvement of a particular region of cerebellar cortex (Larsell’s lobule HVI)
in the widely used paradigm of classical eyeblink conditioning. We also present
new data on the role of lobule HVI in eyeblink conditioning generated by
combining temporary brain inactivation and single-cell recording methods, an
approach that looks promising for further advancing our understanding of
relationships between brain and behavior.
Key words: classical conditioning, associative learning, cerebellum, brainstem,
neuroscience methods, interpositus nucleus, eyelid conditioning