In search of engrams.
The body of literature presented in this paper indicate, as Marr and Albus hypothesized, that the cerebellum is involved in the regulation of classical conditioning. At present, the most parsimonious hypothesis is that the essential memory traces for classical conditioning of eyelid closure, limb flexion, and other discrete responses learned with an aversive US are formed in cerebellar cortex and interpositus nucleus. Both sites contain neuronal elements which encode both conditioned and unconditioned stimuli. Recordings from both cerebellar cortex and the deep nuclei model the topography of the conditioned response and precede the response in time. Lesions of the cortex massively impair conditioning and lesions of the interpositus nucleus completely and permanently abolish the conditioned response without affecting reflex performance.
Swain
R A
RA
Neurosciences Program, University of Southern California, Los Angeles 90089.
Thompson
R F
RF
D000818:Animals; D002525:Cerebellar Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D002529:Cerebellar Nuclei / Q000502:physiology; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000502:physiology*; D003214:Conditioning, Classical / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000502:physiology; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology