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PubMed2004

Use of sequence information in associative learning in control subjects and cerebellar patients.

Previous studies of our group have shown that cerebellar patients are impaired in their ability to associate a color and a numeral or two colors with a button push. The aim of the present study was to examine whether control subjects make use of sequence information in visuomotor associative learning tasks and if this ability is impaired in cerebellar patients. A group of eight patients with degenerative cerebellar disease and eight age, sex and IQ matched controls were tested. Subjects had to learn the association between pairs of colored squares and a button push. Two colored squares were shown one after the other in a fixed or random order on a computer screen. Control subjects but not cerebellar patients took advantage of the fixed order information of colored squares in order to improve associative learning. Differences between groups could not be explained by differences in verbal and visuospatial short-term memory, color discrimination, affective state or motor disturbances. Results suggest that impaired sequencing of sensory stimuli may contribute to disorders in visuomotor associative learning in cerebellar patients.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

How color enhances visual memory for natural scenes.

We offer a framework for understanding how color operates to improve visual memory for images of the natural environment, and we present an extensive data set that quantifies the contribution of color in the encoding and recognition phases. Using a continuous recognition task with colored and monochrome gray-scale images of natural scenes at short exposure durations, we found that color enhances recognition memory by conferring an advantage during encoding and by strengthening the encoding-specificity effect. Furthermore, because the pattern of performance was similar at all exposure durations, and because form and color are processed in different areas of cortex, the results imply that color must be bound as an integral part of the representation at the earliest stages of processing.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Declarative and nondeclarative sequence learning tasks: closed-head injured patients versus control participants.

Patients who sustained closed-head injury (CHI) have been shown to have impaired memory for temporal order when measured under intentional, but not incidental, retrieval conditions. A group of 26 patients who sustained CHI and a matched control group of 26 individuals were tested on a declarative sequence learning task--"Chain Making" (CM), and a nondeclarative sequence learning task--Tower of Hanoi puzzle (TOHP). The TOHP is a problem solving task that requires planning and a strategic approach. The latter are cognitive processes known to be impaired following frontal lobe damage, as has been frequently documented in CHI patients. The goal of the present study was to test whether CHI patients' nondeclarative learning as measured by the TOHP task is preserved, as seen in amnesic patients, or impaired, as would be predicted following frontal lobe damage. Half of the participants in each group underwent active training, and the other half went through passive training of the tasks. The results demonstrate that the control group outperformed the CHI group (in most measures) in both declarative and nondeclarative sequence learning tasks. The effect of type of training differed for the two tasks: while performance of the control group on the TOHP was better under passive training (CHI patients did not improve on either one of the training modes), performance on the CM task was better under active training for both groups. The results are discussed in light of the role of the frontal lobes in memory generally, and in sequence learning particularly.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

The role of the amygdala and rostral anterior cingulate in encoding expected outcomes during learning.

Successful passive avoidance learning is thought to require the use of learned stimulus-reinforcement associations to guide decision making [Baxter, M.G., Murray, E.A., 2002. The amygdala and reward. Nature Reviews. Neuroscience 3, 563-573]. The current experiment investigated the neural correlates of successful passive avoidance learning in 19 healthy adults. Behaviorally, subjects showed a distinct pattern of performance: early indiscriminate responding to stimuli (pre-criterion performance), followed by relatively rapid learning before a plateau of successful performance (post-criterion performance). Neural responses to post-criterion correct responses were compared with neural responses to both incorrect responses and pre-criterion correct responses. Post-criterion correct responding was associated with increased activation in regions including rostral anterior cingulate, insula, caudate, hippocampal regions, and the amygdala.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

L-Dopa infusion does not improve explicit sequence learning in Parkinson's disease.

We have recently introduced a set of sequence learning tasks that emphasize explicit learning and target anticipation and involve the activation of frontal lobes. This type of learning is impaired even in the early stages of Parkinson's disease (PD). Studies on the effects of L-Dopa on cognitive symptoms of PD have yielded controversial results. To verify whether L-Dopa acutely improves explicit sequence learning, we tested six normal subjects and seven PD patients both off-drug and during L-Dopa infusion with two tasks: SEQ, a motor task with multiple demands, where a sequence had to be learned while reaching for a targets; VSEQ, a visual task where a sequence had to be learned by attending to a visual display without moving. Motor performance was assessed with simple motor tasks. L-Dopa improved motor scores and movement speed, but had no beneficial effect on either type of sequence learning.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed2003

Striatal size, glucose metabolic rate, and verbal learning in normal aging.

The striatum has recently been implicated as an area that may mediate age-associated cognitive decline because of diminution of volume and functional activity. We used 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) with positron emission tomography (PET) and high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to examine the effects of age on striatal glucose metabolic rate and size in 70 healthy, normal subjects. During the FDG tracer uptake period, subjects performed a serial verbal learning task, based on the California Verbal Learning Test. PET images were co-registered to the MR images. The interrelations among striatal glucose metabolic rate, size, and performance on the verbal learning task were examined with repeated-measures analysis of variance and correlational analysis. As age increased, relative glucose metabolic rate (GMR) increased in the putamen and decreased in the caudate. Female subjects had lower relative GMR than male subjects in the caudate, but equal in the putamen. Striatal size remained relatively constant across the lifespan in men but was lower in women aged 50-70 than in men. While there were significant associations between striatal activity and performance on the uptake task, these findings were mostly accounted for by age. The findings are consistent with our earlier report on the same cohort that demonstrated an age-related shift from anterior to posterior cortical metabolism, as the putamen receives primarily posterior cortical input and the caudate receives relatively more anterior cortical input. Findings of significant involvement of striatal functioning in verbal learning are most likely accounted for by age and suggest an age-related shift from anterior to posterior circuitry in the human telencephalon.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Providing explicit information disrupts implicit motor learning after basal ganglia stroke.

Despite their purported neuroanatomic and functional isolation, empirical evidence suggests that sometimes conscious explicit processes can influence implicit motor skill learning. Our goal was to determine if the provision of explicit information affected implicit motor-sequence learning after damage to the basal ganglia. Individuals with stroke affecting the basal ganglia (BG) and healthy controls (HC) practiced a continuous implicit motor-sequencing task; half were provided with explicit information (EI) and half were not (No-EI). The focus of brain damage for both BG groups was in the putamen. All of the EI participants were at least explicitly aware of the repeating sequence. Across three days of practice, explicit information had a differential effect on the groups. Explicit information disrupted acquisition performance in participants with basal ganglia stroke but not healthy controls. By retention (day 4), a dissociation was apparent--explicit information hindered implicit learning in participants with basal ganglia lesions but aided healthy controls. It appears that after basal ganglia stroke explicit information is less helpful in the development of the motor plan than is discovering a motor solution using the implicit system alone. This may be due to the increased demand placed on working memory by explicit information. Thus, basal ganglia integrity may be a crucial factor in determining the efficacy of explicit information for implicit motor-sequence learning.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

The contribution of list length to the absence of the primacy effect in word recall in dementia of the Alzheimer type.

It has repeatedly been demonstrated that patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) show an absence of the primacy effect when asked to recall a list of items. The results of the present study show that the absence of the primacy effect in DAT patients is related to list length but probably in a way that is qualitatively not specific since it follows the same pattern as in normal ageing. It is also demonstrated that DAT patients differ in learning style. It is suggested that this indicates a reduced capacity to maintain controlled processing.

Aged↗
PubMed1995

Memory and attention test performance of young and elderly subjects after retest practice.

The effects of training on two memory and two attention tasks were investigated in 24 healthy elderly and 23 young subjects. Two training periods, each consisting of four sessions, were performed, and the effects of training were assessed during two test sessions 1 week thereafter. Significant age-related effects at the pretraining test session were found for reaction times to a simple visual stimulus, retrieval time of information from long-term storage, and the speed of focusing attention. In both age groups, performance of the first two tasks was significantly improved by training; however, the age-related effect remained significant after training. In the focused attention task, the age difference at baseline disappeared after training due to an opposite learning trend in young and elderly subjects. Thus, the cognitive performance of elderly subjects could be trained to a large extent. Significant age differences, however, could be decreased only if the test performance of young subjects did not improve.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

The structure of working memory from 4 to 15 years of age.

The structure of working memory and its development across the childhood years were investigated in children 4-15 years of age. The children were given multiple assessments of each component of the A. D. Baddeley and G. Hitch (1974) working memory model. Broadly similar linear functions characterized performance on all measures as a function of age. From 6 years onward, a model consisting of 3 distinct but correlated factors corresponding to the working memory model provided a good fit to the data. The results indicate that the basic modular structure of working memory is present from 6 years of age and possibly earlier, with each component undergoing sizable expansion in functional capacity throughout the early and middle school years to adolescence.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

On the benefits of not trying: brain activity and connectivity reflecting the interactions of explicit and implicit sequence learning.

Under certain circumstances, implicit, automatic learning may be attenuated by explicit memory processes. We explored the brain basis of this phenomenon in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study of motor sequence learning. Using a factorial design that crossed subjective intention to learn (explicit versus implicit) with sequence difficulty (a standard versus a more complex alternating sequence), we show that explicit attempts to learn the difficult sequence produce a failure of implicit learning and, in a follow-up behavioural experiment, that this failure represents a suppression of learning itself rather than of the expression of learning. This suppression is associated with sustained right frontal activation and attenuation of learning-related changes in the medial temporal lobe and the thalamus. Furthermore, this condition is characterized by a reversal of the fronto-thalamic connectivity observed with unimpaired implicit learning. The findings demonstrate a neural basis for a well-known behavioural effect: the deleterious impact of an explicit search upon implicit learning.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Interactions of biomedical and environmental risk factors for cognitive development: a preliminary study of sickle cell disease.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is associated with a number of biopsychosocial risk factors for cognitive development. Understanding how these risk factors may interact is important for developing interventions for cognitive functioning. The authors assessed the cognitive abilities of children with SCD (n = 50) and related their performance to anemia severity, socioeconomic status (SES), and their interaction. Demographically matched peers without SCD (n = 36) served as a comparison group. Four areas of cognitive weakness were identified among children with SCD: general cognitive ability, crystallized ability, short-term memory, and processing speed. Anemia severity predicted general cognitive ability, crystallized ability, and processing speed. Interactions between anemia severity and SES were found for general cognitive ability and short-term memory. Disease effects in SCD appear to vary depending on the child's level of socioenvironmental risk. Biomedical interventions to benefit cognitive functioning may have different effects depending on whether additional socioenvironmental risk factors are present.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Multiple memory systems: evidence from stroke.

In this report, we describe the "fractionation of memory systems" in a 62-yr.-old woman following a left anterior stroke. Despite the presence of a significant, persistent declarative memory (verbal learning) deficit, this patient exhibited relatively intact procedural learning. The latter was manifested over a 4-day period by improved performance on a maze task executed under "mirror-tracing" conditions. By the final set of trials, the patient's performance approximated that of a normal control subject with respect to speed, although not errors. The selective preservation of particular learning abilities in brain-damaged patients has implications for rehabilitative interventions.

Brain Damage, Chronic↗
PubMed1998

Dorsal striatal size, shape, and metabolic rate in never-medicated and previously medicated schizophrenics performing a verbal learning task.

BACKGROUND: Magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography were used to study the size and metabolic rate of the caudate and the putamen in 18 patients with schizophrenia (n=16) or schizo-affective disorder (n=2) and 24 age- and sex-matched control subjects. METHODS: The patients were either never medicated (n=7) or drug free (n=11) for a median of 3 weeks. During uptake of fludeoxyglucose F 18, all patients performed a serial verbal learning test. Positron emission tomographic and magnetic resonance imaging scans were coregistered, and the caudate and the putamen were traced on the magnetic resonance image. RESULTS: The striatum had a significantly lower relative metabolic rate in schizophrenics than in controls. Never-medicated patients had lower metabolic rates in the right putamen (ventral part of the dorsal striatum) than previously medicated patients. The caudate was significantly smaller in never-medicated patients than in controls and largest in previously medicated patients. Patients with higher relative metabolic rates in the putamen scored higher on the Abnormal Involuntary Movements Scale. CONCLUSIONS: The findings are consistent with reports of striatal enlargement in previously medicated patients and size increases after neuroleptic treatment. Never-medicated patients, in contrast, had ventral striatal structures that were smaller and less active than those observed in controls and previously medicated patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Conserving total synaptic weight ensures one-trial sequence learning of place fields in the hippocampus.

The hippocampus plays a critical role in the rapid acquisition of information from a novel experience. Recent theoretical studies on the rat hippocampus have shown the possibility of behavioral sequence learning in a single traversal experience by theta phase coding. Specifically, previous work using computer simulations demonstrated that the extent of overlap among individual events of sequence and rat running velocity should be quantitatively incorporated into the learning rule to ensure one-trial sequence learning. These extents of overlap- and running velocity-dependent properties in the learning rule are called the input-dependent regulation of the learning rule. However, the biological meaning of such learning properties remains poorly understood. In this study, we quantitatively derive these learning properties with mathematical analyses. We further find that the input-dependent regulation of the learning rule allows maintenance of total synaptic weight over a given neuron during one-trial learning. Our results predict that a homeostatic plasticity mechanism should exist for conserving total synaptic weight on a rapid timescale.

Action Potentials↗
PubMed2006

Effects of antiepileptic drugs on learning as assessed by a repeated acquisition of response sequences task in rats.

Patients with epilepsy can have impaired cognitive abilities. Antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) may contribute to the cognitive deficits observed in patients with epilepsy, and have been shown to induce cognitive impairments in healthy individuals. However, there are few systematic data on the effects of AEDs on specific cognitive domains. We have previously demonstrated that a number of AEDs can impair working memory and attention. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of AEDs on learning as measured by a repeated acquisition of response sequences task in nonepileptic rats. The GABA-related AEDs phenobarbital and chlordiazepoxide significantly disrupted performance by shifting the learning curve to the right and increasing errors, whereas tiagabine and valproate did not. The sodium channel blockers carbamazepine and phenytoin suppressed responding at higher doses, whereas lamotrigine shifted the learning curve to the right and increased errors, and topiramate was without significant effect. Levetiracetam also shifted the learning curve to the right and increased errors. The disruptions produced by triazolam, chlordiazepoxide, lamotrigine, and levetiracetam were qualitatively similar to the effects of the muscarinic cholinergic receptor antagonist scopolamine. The present results indicate that AEDs can impair learning, but there are differences among AEDs in the magnitude of the disruption in nonepileptic rats, with drugs that enhance GABA receptor function and some that block sodium channels producing the most consistent impairment of learning.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1996

The effects of behavioural relaxation on cognitive performance in adults with severe intellectual disabilities.

Behavioural relaxation training has been found to be effective in the treatment of generalized anxiety in people with intellectual disability. The present study is designed to assess whether or not these techniques can help individuals in more generalized aspects of their life. Two groups of 10 adults with a severe intellectual disability formed a relaxation group and a control group. The relaxation group were given a course in behavioural relaxation training and the control group were given a quiet reading period for the same amount of time. Each subject was given a digit span test, a test of long-term memory and an incidental learning test after each session. Results suggest behavioural relaxation training has a beneficial effect on performance on tests of short-term memory and incidental learning, but no effect upon long-term memory.

Adult↗