title: Training to criterion in eyeblink classical conditioning in Alzheimer's disease, Down's syndrome with Alzheimer's disease, and healthy elderly.
abstract: The cholinergic antagonist scopolamine delays acquisition of eyeblink classical conditioning (EBCC) in rabbits and humans, but scopolamine-treated organisms eventually acquire conditioned responses (CRs). Patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) and older adults with Down's syndrome (DS/AD) have disrupted cholinergic systems and perform EBCC very poorly. It was hypothesized that patients with probable AD and DS/AD, like scopolamine-injected organisms, would acquire CRs if given sufficient training. Twelve probable AD patients, 12 DS/AD patients, and 6 healthy elderly control individuals participated in 5 daily 90-trial sessions of EBCC. Fifty-eight percent of the probable AD, 92% of the DS/AD, and 100% of the control participants achieved learning criterion. Probable AD, DS/AD, and control participants had statistically significant increases in the percentage of CRs produced over 5 EBCC sessions. The neural substrate for EBCC was not eliminated in probable AD or DS/AD patients, although the learning mechanism was disrupted.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122.
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Woodruff-Pak
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Romano
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Papka
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D001767:Blinking / Q000502:physiology; D002799:Cholinergic Fibers / Q000502:physiology; D003214:Conditioning, Classical / Q000502:physiology; D003215:Conditioning, Eyelid / Q000502:physiology; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values; D012153:Retention, Psychology / Q000502:physiology