The activity of dopamine (DA)-containing neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) is a key mechanism in mesolimbic reward processing that has modulatory effects on different diencephalic structures like hippocampus (HIP), and receives inhibitory feedback and excitatory feed forward control. In addition, within the hippocampus, DA receptors are mostly located in the dorsal part (CA1) and dopa...

The two-factor theory postulates that classical conditioning proceeds through two stages, which support successive acquisition of emotional and motor responses. Emotional conditioning is thought to facilitate the subsequent acquisition of the motor response. This form of interaction between the two stages of learning can be investigated while considering the central role of the amygdala and the...

BACKGROUND NCAA strength and conditioning coaches are responsible for the day-to-day conditioning and strength training of collegiate athletes. NCAA regulations will likely require all strength and conditioning coaches to have a strength and conditioning certification. NCAA strength and conditioning coaches have varied philosophies on exercise programming based on educational background. The st...

Trace conditioning, a form of classical conditioning in which the presentation of the conditioned stimulus (CS) and the unconditioned stimulus (US) is separated in time by an interstimulus interval, requires an intact hippocampus. In contrast, classical conditioning procedures in which the CS and US are not separated by an interstimulus interval (i.e., delay conditioning procedures) typically d...

Operant conditioning of a spinal cord reflex can improve locomotion in rats and humans with incomplete spinal cord injury. This study examined the persistence of its beneficial effects. In rats in which a right lateral column contusion injury had produced asymmetric locomotion, up-conditioning of the right soleus H-reflex eliminated the asymmetry while down-conditioning had no effect. After the...

Trace conditioning, a form of classical conditioning in which the presentation of the conditioned stimulus (CS) and the unconditioned stimulus (US) is separated in time by an interstimulus interval, requires an intact hippocampus. In contrast, classical conditioning procedures in which the CS and US are not separated by an interstimulus interval (i.e., delay conditioning procedures) typically d...

080701-1 The consequences of beam conditioning in four example cases [VISA, a soft x-ray free-electron laser (FEL), LCLS, and a ‘‘Greenfield’’ FEL] are examined. It is shown that in emittance limited cases, proper conditioning reduces sensitivity to the transverse emittance and, furthermore, allows for stronger focusing in the undulator. Simulations show higher saturation power, with gain lengt...

The cerebellum and the hippocampus are key structures for the acquisition of conditioned eyeblink responses. Whereas the cerebellum seems to be crucial for all types of eyeblink conditioning, the hippocampus appears to be involved only in complex types of learning. We conducted a differential conditioning study to explore the suitability of the design for magnetencephalography (MEG). In additio...

The siphon withdrawal reflex of Aplysia undergoes differential classical conditioning with cutaneous stimulation of the siphon or mantle shelf as the discriminative conditioned stimuli (CS+ and CS-) and shock to the tail as the unconditioned stimulus (US). The reflex has proved to be useful for analyzing the neural mechanisms of conditioning. To test the generality of this experimental system, ...

Early life trauma alters later life emotions, including fear. To better understand mediating mechanisms, we subjected pups to either predictable or unpredictable trauma, in the form of paired or unpaired odor-0.5 mA shock conditioning which, during a sensitive period, produces an odor preference and no learning respectively. Fear conditioning and its neural correlates were then assessed after t...