title: Repeated extinction and reversal learning of an approach response supports an arousal-mediated learning model.
abstract: We assessed the effects of repeated extinction and reversals of two conditional stimuli (CS+/CS-) on an appetitive conditioned approach response in rats. Three results were observed that could not be accounted for by a simple linear operator model such as the one proposed by Rescorla and Wagner (1972): (1) responding to a CS- declined faster when a CS+ was simultaneously extinguished; (2) reacquisition of pre-extinction performance recovered rapidly within one session; and (3) reversal of CS+/CS- contingencies resulted in a more rapid recovery to the current CS- (former CS+) than the current CS+, accompanied by a slower acquisition of performance to the current CS+. An arousal parameter that mediates learning was introduced to a linear operator model to account for these effects. The arousal-mediated learning model adequately fit the data and predicted data from a second experiment with different rats in which only repeated reversals of CS+/CS- were assessed. According to this arousal-mediated learning model, learning is accelerated by US-elicited arousal and it slows down in the absence of US. Because arousal varies faster than conditioning, the model accounts for the decline in responding during extinction mainly through a reduction in arousal, not a change in learning. By preserving learning during extinction, the model is able to account for relapse effects like rapid reacquisition, renewal, and reinstatement.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5632, United States. cpod@umich.edu
authors.forename: Christopher A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Podlesnik
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sanabria
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D003214:Conditioning, Classical / Q000502:physiology*; D005108:Extinction, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012193:Reversal Learning / Q000502:physiology*