Classical and operant conditioning differentially modify the intrinsic properties of an identified neuron.
A long-standing debate in neuroscience is whether classical and operant conditioning are mechanistically similar or distinct. The feeding behavior of Aplysia provides a model system suitable for addressing this question. Here we report that classical and operant conditioning of feeding behavior differentially modify the intrinsic excitability of neuron B51, a critical element for the expression of the feeding response, thus revealing that these two forms of associative learning differ at the cellular level.
Lorenzetti
Fred D
FD
Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, W.M. Keck Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
Mozzachiodi
Riccardo
R
Baxter
Douglas A
DA
Byrne
John H
JH
D000818:Animals; D001048:Aplysia / Q000502:physiology*; D001066:Appetite / Q000502:physiology; D003214:Conditioning, Classical / Q000502:physiology*; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000502:physiology*; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D017952:Ganglia, Invertebrate / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*