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PubMed1971

Computer graphics as an aid to learning.

Departing from the traditional model for teaching and learning, this article deals with the problem of teaching and learning the effective application of knowledge already acquired. To this end, a model for the process of exercising judgment was outlined, and the results of an empirical study of judgmental learning were employed to show the inadequacy of the traditional outcome feedback procedures. Computer graphics techniques were used to provide new forms of information to the learner; the results are promising for the rapid learning of a task that would otherwise be difficult to learn.

Cognition↗

PubMed2002

Differential involvement of the hippocampus and temporal lobe cortices in rapid and slow learning of new semantic information.

The present study examined the rapid and slow acquisition of new semantic information by two patients with differing brain pathology. A partial double dissociation was found between the patterns of new learning shown by these two patients. Rapid acquisition was impaired in a patient (YR) who had relatively selective hippocampal damage, but it was unimpaired in another patient (JL) who, according to structural MRI, had an intact hippocampus but damage to anterolateral temporal cortex accompanied by epileptic seizures. Slow acquisition was impaired in both patients, but was impaired to a much greater extent in JL. The dissociation suggests that the mechanisms underlying rapid and slow acquisition of new semantic information are at least partially separable. The findings indicate that rapid acquisition of semantic, as well as episodic information, is critically dependent on the hippocampus. However, they suggest that hippocampal processing is less important for the gradual acquisition of semantic information through repeated exposure, although it is probably necessary for normal levels of such learning to be achieved.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Hippocampal and neocortical contributions to memory: advances in the complementary learning systems framework.

The complementary learning systems framework provides a simple set of principles, derived from converging biological, psychological and computational constraints, for understanding the differential contributions of the neocortex and hippocampus to learning and memory. The central principles are that the neocortex has a low learning rate and uses overlapping distributed representations to extract the general statistical structure of the environment, whereas the hippocampus learns rapidly using separated representations to encode the details of specific events while minimizing interference. In recent years, we have instantiated these principles in working computational models, and have used these models to address human and animal learning and memory findings, across a wide range of domains and paradigms. Here, we review a few representative applications of our models, focusing on two domains: recognition memory and animal learning in the fear-conditioning paradigm. In both domains, the models have generated novel predictions that have been tested and confirmed.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2006

Acquiring and adapting a novel audiomotor map in human grasping.

For sensorimotor transformations to be executed accurately, there must be mechanisms that can both establish and modify mappings between sensory and motor coordinates. Such mechanisms were investigated in normal subjects using a reach-to-grasp task. First, we replaced the normal input of visual information about object size with auditory information, i.e., we attempted to establish an 'audiomotor map'. The size of the object was log linearly related to the frequency of the sound, and we measured the maximum grip aperture (MGA) during the reaching phase to determine if the subjects had learned the relationship. Second, we changed the frequency-object size relationship to study adaptation in the newly acquired map. Our results demonstrate that learning of an audiomotor map consisted of three distinct phases: during the first stage (approximately 10-15 trials) subjects simply used MGAs large enough to grasp any reasonably sized object and there were no overt signs of learning. During the second stage, there was a period of fast learning where the slope of the relationship between MGA and object size became steeper until the third stage where the slope was constant. In contrast, when sensorimotor adaptation was studied in the established audiomotor map, there was rapid learning from the start of a size perturbation. We conclude that different learning strategies are employed when sensorimotor transformations are established compared to when existing transformations are modified.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

PubMed1994

Modulation of associative memory function in a biophysical simulation of rat piriform cortex.

1. Associative memory function was analyzed in a realistic biophysical simulation of rat piriform (olfactory) cortex containing 240 pyramidal cells and 58 each of two types of inhibitory interneurons. Pyramidal cell simulations incorporated six different intrinsic currents and three different synaptic currents. We investigated the hypothesis that acetylcholine sets the appropriate dynamics for learning within the network, whereas removal of cholinergic modulation sets the appropriate dynamics for recall. The associative memory function of the network was tested during recall after simulation of the cholinergic suppression of intrinsic fiber synaptic transmission and the cholinergic suppression of neuronal adaptation during learning. 2. Hebbian modification of excitatory synaptic connections between pyramidal cells during learning of patterns of afferent activity allowed the model to show the basic associative memory property of completion during recall in response to degraded versions of those patterns, as evaluated by a performance measure based on normalized dot products. 3. During learning of multiple overlapping patterns of afferent activity, recall of previously learned patterns interfered with the learning of new patterns. As more patterns were stored this interference could lead to the exponential growth of a large number of excitatory synaptic connections within the network. This runaway synaptic modification during learning led to excessive excitatory activity during recall, preventing the accurate recall of individual patterns. 4. Runaway synaptic modification of excitatory intrinsic connections could be prevented by selective suppression of synaptic transmission at these synapses during learning. This allowed effective recall of single learned afferent patterns in response to degraded versions of those patterns, without interference from other learned patterns. 5. During learning, cholinergic suppression of neuronal adaptation enhanced the activity of cortical pyramidal cells in response to afferent input, compensating for decreased activity due to suppression of intrinsic fiber synaptic transmission. This modulation of adaptation led to more rapid learning of afferent input patterns, as demonstrated by higher values of the performance measure. 6. During recall, when suppression of excitatory intrinsic synaptic transmission was removed, continued cholinergic suppression of neuronal adaptation led to the spread of excessive activity. More stable activity patterns during recall could be obtained when the cholinergic suppression of neuronal adaptation was removed at the same time as the cholinergic suppression of synaptic transmission. 7. A realistic biophysical simulation of the effects of acetylcholine on synaptic transmission and neuronal adaptation in the piriform cortex shows that these effects act together to set the appropriate dynamics for learning, whereas removal of both effects sets the appropriate dynamics for recall.

Acetylcholine↗

PubMed1975

Arousal and temporal factors imprinting in mallards.

A number of factors affecting the learning processes in laboratory imprinting were examined. Two factors alone explained the degree to which young ducklings learn the characteristics of a given model: the length of exposure to the model, and the endogenous arousal state of the duckling. A third, the effect of muscular exertion is not warranted. The characteristics of some models are more rapidly learned than others, and the significance of this fact for biochemical studies of learning is discussed. In this study ease of learning coincided with innate preference; this suggests the presence of a neural filtering mechanism in the duckling which alters the assimilation of information into the CNS and hence controls both innate preference and learnability.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Social isolation stress during the third week of life has age-dependent effects on spatial learning in rats.

Despite extensive research on the relationship between acute stress and hippocampal function in adults, little is known about the short- and long-term effects of prolonged juvenile stress on learning, memory, and other hippocampal functions. This experiment investigated whether spatial learning would be altered in juvenile and adult rats previously exposed to a chronic stressor: 6 h of social isolation (SI) daily at 15-21 days of age. SI was found to increase circulating plasma levels of corticosterone (CORT) and allopregnanolone (3-alpha,5-alpha-pregnan-20-one; 3,5-THP) at 1 h after separation on the fourth day, indicating that the isolation was an effective stressor. When tested as juveniles (post-natal (PN) 22-24), spatial learning was impaired on the Morris water maze in the previously isolated subjects compared to non-isolated controls. However, when tested as adults (PN 92-94), subjects previously exposed to SI during the third week of life demonstrated more rapid learning of the task than controls. These results are discussed in light of research on the effects of CORT on the developing hippocampus.

Aging↗

PubMed1994

Learning of suckling odors by newborn rabbits declines with age and suckling experience.

After being nursed just once for 4-5 min by an artificially scented doe, newborn rabbits show the full pattern of nipple-search behavior when placed on a fur scented with the same odor as their mother. It was the aim of the present study to test whether such rapid learning is dependent on age. In Experiment 1 in which normally raised pups were nursed by a scented doe either on Days 1, 3 or 5, conditionability was found to decline markedly by postnatal Day 5. In Experiment 2 conditionability was maintained in pups deprived of suckling experience by bottle feeding from Days 1-4, but not in hand-raised pups allowed to search on a doe for 4 min daily without milk intake. Possible mechanisms underlying the decline in conditionability to suckling odors, as well as the potential functional significance of this early learning for immediate postnatal and later life are discussed.

Aging↗

PubMed1997

Spatial learning and memory at defined points of the estrous cycle: effects on performance of a hippocampal-dependent task.

Learning based on hippocampal-dependent spatial navigation in female rats was assessed at identified points in the estrous cycle corresponding to low (estrus) and high (proestrus) circulating estrogen. With background training in water-maze procedures, rats learned the location of an escape platform in the maze in a single session of 8 training trials. A strong spatial bias for the escape platform was also evident in a probe trial used to assess retention of learning 30 min after the training session. This entire protocol was completed in less than an hour. The performance of the estrus and proestrus rats was indistinguishable on all behavioral measures, irrespective of the stage of estrous cycle during the task. These results indicate that rapid learning and retention for spatial information over a relatively short interval may be preserved despite morphological alterations in hippocampal dendritic spine density in the normally cycling female rat.

Animals↗

PubMed1986

Simultaneous brightness discrimination and reversal: the effects of amphetamine administration in the two stages.

Rats were trained in a Y-maze on a two-choice simultaneous brightness discrimination with light as S+ and dark as S- (Stage 1), and were then switched to reversal, where the reinforcement contingencies of the original training were reversed (Stage 2). d-Amphetamine, 1 mg/kg, was administered in a 2 X 2 design, i.e., drug-no drug in Stage 1 and drug-no drug in Stage 2. The administration of the drug in Stage 1 improved the acquisition of the initial brightness discrimination and facilitated reversal learning independently of the drug administered in Stage 2. In addition, the administration of the drug in Stage 2 only improved performance towards the end of reversal training. The results indicate that amphetamine enhances the attention to, or the associability of, the discriminative stimuli, leading to a rapid learning to these stimuli under changed contingencies of reinforcement.

Animals↗

PubMed1995

The diagnosis of Plasmodium falciparum infection using a new antigen detection system.

With the widespread emergence of drug-resistant Plasmodium falciparum infection, febrile patients in the tropics can no longer be empirically treated with inexpensive yet effective antimalarials. The substitution of newer and more costly drugs brings with it the need for rapid, accurate, and inexpensive diagnostic procedures so that directed therapy can be used. We report a field trial comparing standard microscopic malaria diagnosis and quantitative buffy coat analysis to a new P. falciparum antigen detection system. The ParaSight F test (PFT) was found to be easy to learn, rapid to perform, and highly accurate. If confirmed, the use of the PFT in endemic areas may aid in the identification of patients requiring therapy for drug-resistant malaria.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1984

Bringing the feet in from the cold: thermal biofeedback training of foot-warming in Raynaud's syndrome.

The biofeedback-assisted treatment of a case of Raynaud's syndrome was examined in order to determine the relationship between learning of the hand-warming response and the subsequent ability to produce foot-warming responses. It was found that fluctuations in dermal hand and foot temperatures were not significantly related, either within or across treatment sessions. The obtained hand-warming response was of high magnitude and rapidly learned, while the foot-warming response was more modest and took substantially more trials to learn. These results indicate that an easy generalization of the hand-warming response cannot be assumed.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Psychoemotional manifestations in hippocampectomized rats.

The effects of lesioning of the dorsal hippocampus on the psychoemotional state of Wistar rats were studied. Hippocampal lesions did not affect the learning process, but affected mainly the pattern of psychoemotional manifestations in all animals regardless of the typology of higher nervous activity. All animals showed reductions in the extremes of types of passive and active stress reactions. Individual effects depended on the behavioral phenotypes of the animals. Hippocampal lesions in rapidly learning rats (10%) led to sharp decreases in irritability (active/passive = 0.35/0.5 instead of 1.0/0.4), while passive-defensive manifestations were not altered. In slowly learning animals (30%), hippocampal lesions were not accompanied by qualitative changes in the patterns of psychoemotional manifestations, while non-learning rats (60%) showed decreases in passive and increases in active manifestations (active/passive = 0.45/1.4 instead of 0.3/1.9). It is suggested that the hippocampus is involved in producing psychoemotional reactions, individual patterns of which depend on the morphofunctional characteristics of the system responsible for organizing the psychoemotional state.

Animals↗

PubMed2007

Disconnect in concept learning by rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta): judgment of relations and relations-between-relations.

The authors investigated the role that entropy measures, discriminative cues, and symbolic knowledge play for rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) in the acquisition of the concepts of same and different for use in a computerized relational matching-to-sample task. After repeatedly failing to perceive relations between pairs of stimuli in a 2-choice discrimination paradigm, monkeys rapidly learned to discriminate between 8-element arrays. Subsequent tests with smaller arrays, however, suggested that, although important for the initial acquisition of the concept, entropy is not a variable on which monkeys are dependent. Not only do monkeys choose a corresponding relational pair in the presence of a cue, but they also choose the cue itself in the presence of the relational pair--in essence, labeling those relations. Subsequent failure in the judgment of relations-between-relations, however, suggests that perhaps a qualitatively different cognitive component exists that prevents monkeys from behaving analogically.

Animals↗

PubMed1990

Increased drug sensitivity in the drug discrimination procedure afforded by drug versus drug training.

Rats were trained to discriminate norfenfluramine (NF) 1.4 mg/kg from its vehicle or amphetamine (AMPH) 0.8 mg/kg or pentobarbital (PB) 6.0 mg/kg in order to determine the role that drug combination training plays in the rate of learning and sensitivity to lower drug doses. The results suggest that drug versus drug training can increase the rate of drug discrimination learning for some drugs that are learned slowly when trained in a drug versus vehicle training procedure, whereas drug versus drug training does not increase the rate of learning for other drugs that are learned rapidly. Drug versus drug training does, however, appear to increase the level of stimulus control of the training drug for all drugs examined in this study.

Amphetamine↗

PubMed1979

Response versus place learning by human infants.

Two cross-setional studies examined how infants learn the location of visual events. In Experiment 1, infants of 4, 8, and 12 mo of age learned to turn one way to view a novel pattern. In a subsequent transfer task, they were rotated to face the opposite side of the room. The 4-mo-old infants tended to err by repeating their previously learned response, but within 16-20 trials their performance was comparable to the higher levels maintained by the older infants. These results suggest that young infants learn the location of the pattern primarily in terms of response cues, whereas older infants employ both response cues and place cues. Experiment 2 was designed to independently assess the use of response cues and place cues by infants of 4, 8, 12, and 16 mo of age. All infants were able to rapidly learn and remember the location of the novel pattern when they were given response cues. There was a gradual emergence of place-cue use associated with age. It is suggested that the decrease in infant egocentricity in such spatial localization tasks may in fact reflect an age-related increase in the variety of reliable cues responded to by infants.

Cues↗

PubMed2006

Patterns of verbal memory performance in mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer disease, and normal aging.

OBJECTIVE: Individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) typically demonstrate memory loss that falls between normal aging (NA) and Alzheimer disease (AD), but little is known about the pattern of memory dysfunction in MCI. METHOD: To explore this issue, California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) performance was examined across groups of MCI, AD, and NA. RESULTS: MCI subjects displayed a pattern of deficits closely resembling that of AD, characterized by reduced learning, rapid forgetting, increased recency recall, elevated intrusion errors, and poor recognition discriminability with increased false-positives. MCI performance was significantly worse than that of controls and better than that of AD patients across memory indices. Although qualitative analysis of CVLT profiles may be useful in individual cases, discriminant function analysis revealed that delayed recall and total learning were the best aspects of learning/memory on the CVLT in differentiating MCI, AD, and NA. CONCLUSIONS: These findings support the position that amnestic MCI represents an early point of decline on the continuum of AD that is different from normal aging.

Aged↗

PubMed2003

Motor learning processes in a movement-scaling task in olivopontocerebellar atrophy and Parkinson's disease.

Nine Parkinson's disease (PD), seven olivopontocerebellar atrophy (OPCA) patients and two age-matched control groups learned a linear arm movement-scaling task over 2 days, requiring movements proportional in length to visually presented target-bars. Scaling was acquired through knowledge of results (KR concerning the direction and magnitude of errors) following every second acquisition trial. Initial acquisition of both groups was significantly worse than their respective controls (poorer movement scaling), but rapidly improved to nearly identical levels. Retention for the PD group's movement scaling was as good as controls initially, but markedly poorer after 24 h. The OPCA group did not show this deficit. Both patient groups extrapolated accurately to longer, previously unpracticed target distances (no KR provided), suggesting an unimpaired capacity to generate and use an internal representation of the movement scaling. They also rapidly learned a new scaling relationship when the gain was changed. Overall, the learning of this movement-scaling task was not adversely affected in OPCA, and the impairment was restricted primarily to longer-term retention in PD. The study suggests that: (1) the ability to acquire movement scaling in a task that requires conscious use of error feedback and no new coordination may depend little on the cerebellum, and (2) the basal ganglia may participate in longer-term storage of scaling information.

Adult↗