title: Functional MRI of cerebellar activity during eyeblink classical conditioning in children and adults.
abstract: This study characterized human cerebellar activity during eyeblink classical conditioning (EBC) in children and adults using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). During fMRI, participants were administered delay conditioning trials, in which the conditioned stimulus (a tone) precedes, overlaps, and coterminates with the unconditioned stimulus (a corneal airpuff). Behavioral eyeblink responses and brain activation were measured concurrently during two phases: pseudoconditioning, involving presentations of tone alone and airpuff alone, and conditioning, during which the tone and airpuff were paired. Although all participants demonstrated significant conditioning, the adults produced more conditioned responses (CRs) than the children. When brain activations during pseudoconditioning were subtracted from those elicited during conditioning, significant activity was distributed throughout the cerebellar cortex (Crus I-II, lateral lobules IV-IX, and vermis IV-VI) in all participants, suggesting multiple sites of associative learning-related plasticity. Despite their less optimal behavioral performance, the children showed greater responding in the pons, lateral lobules VIII, IX, and Crus I, and vermis VI, suggesting that they may require greater activation and/or the recruitment of supplementary structures to achieve successful conditioning. Correlation analyses relating brain activations to behavioral CRs showed a positive association of activity in cerebellar deep nuclei (including dentate, fastigial, and interposed nuclei) and vermis VI with CRs in the children. This is the first study to compare cerebellar cortical and deep nuclei activations in children versus adults during EBC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Dominic T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Ernesta M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Meintjes
authors.forename: Mark E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Stanton
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Desmond
authors.forename: Mariska
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pienaar
authors.forename: Neil C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Dodge
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Power
authors.forename: Christopher D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Molteno
authors.forename: John F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Disterhoft
authors.forename: Joseph L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Jacobson
authors.forename: Sandra W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Jacobson
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology; D001767:Blinking / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D003215:Conditioning, Eyelid / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010812:Physical Stimulation; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: cerebellum; development; learning; memory; neuroimaging