Phase matters: responding to and learning about peripheral stimuli depends on hippocampal θ phase at stimulus onset
| Autor: | Tomi Waselius, Miriam S. Nokia, Jarno E. Mikkonen, Markku Penttonen, Jan Wikgren |
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| Rok vydání: | 2015 |
| Předmět: |
Functional role
oppiminen Cognitive Neuroscience Hippocampal formation Stimulus (physiology) ta3112 Hippocampus memory hippocampal Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience Animals Theta Rhythm ta515 learning Research Eye movement Classical conditioning Conditioning Eyelid Peripheral Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology Eyeblink conditioning Conditioning Female Rabbits Psychology Neuroscience |
| Zdroj: | Learningmemory (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.). 22(6) |
| ISSN: | 1549-5485 |
| Popis: | Hippocampal θ (3–12 Hz) oscillations are implicated in learning and memory, but their functional role remains unclear. We studied the effect of the phase of local θ oscillation on hippocampal responses to a neutral conditioned stimulus (CS) and subsequent learning of classical trace eyeblink conditioning in adult rabbits. High-amplitude, regular hippocampal θ-band responses (that predict good learning) were elicited by the CS when it was timed to commence at the fissure θ trough (Trough group). Regardless, learning in this group was not enhanced compared with a yoked control group, possibly due to a ceiling effect. However, when the CS was consistently presented to the peak of θ (Peak group), hippocampal θ-band responding was less organized and learning was retarded. In well-trained animals, the hippocampal θ phase at CS onset no longer affected performance of the learned response, suggesting a time-limited role for hippocampal processing in learning. To our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate that timing a peripheral stimulus to a specific phase of the hippocampal θ cycle produces robust effects on the synchronization of neural responses and affects learning at the behavioral level. Our results support the notion that the phase of spontaneous hippocampal θ oscillation is a means of regulating the processing of information in the brain to a behaviorally relevant degree. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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