Conditioning and reflex modification of the rabbit nictitating membrane response using electrical stimulation in auditory nuclei.

Electrical brain stimulation (EBS) was applied to four nuclei in the auditory system, namely, the cochlear nucleus (CN), superior olive (SO), inferior colliculus, and medial geniculate. EBS was also applied to the pontine nuclei, which are the main relays for transmitting auditory conditioned stimuli (CSs) into the cerebellar pathways for conditioning of the nictitating membrane response (NMR). EBS of the CN, but no other site, yielded reflex modification, which was an increase in the unconditioned NMR to an airpuff unconditioned stimulus (US) when preceded by EBS.

Elicitation, modification, and conditioning of the rabbit nictitating membrane response by electrical stimulation in the spinal trigeminal nucleus, inferior olive, interpositus nucleus, and red nucleus.

Elicitation of responses by electrical brain stimulation (EBS) was related to the synaptic distance of the target nucleus from the accessory abducens. Specifically, responses to EBS in the spinal trigeminal nucleus (TRIG) and red nucleus (RN) increased as a positive function of stimulation parameters. Responding to EBS in the interpositus nucleus (IP) was lower, and responding to EBS in the inferior olive (IO) was negligible.

Effects of subanesthetic concentrations of isoflurane and their interactions with epinephrine on acquisition and retention of the rabbit nictitating membrane response.

Background: Evidence concerning the concentrations of volatile anesthetics that prevent learning and recall is limited. Epinephrine is believed to enable learning during anesthesia. We investigated the effects of isoflurane and its interaction with epinephrine on learning and subsequent retention of the rabbit's classically conditioned nictitating membrane response.

Nitrous oxide: sensory, motor, associative, and behavioral tolerance effects in classical conditioning of the rabbit nictitating membrane response.

Experiment 1, of a series of six experiments with the rabbit nictitating membrane response (NMR) preparation, revealed that nitrous oxide (0%, 33%, 67%) impaired acquisition of conditioned responses (CRs). Subsequent experiments indicated that nitrous oxide (N2O) had no reliable effects upon nonassociative processes (Experiment 2); impaired unconditioned response (UR) amplitude (Experiment 3); attenuated tone-conditioned stimulus (CS) intensity (Experiment 4); decremented tone-induced reflex modification of the unconditioned NMR (Experiment 5); and demonstrated no reliable evidence of behavioral tolerance (Experiment 6). It was concluded that N2O's impairment of CR acquisition was attributable to its attenuation of the intensity of tone CSs and shock USs and/or UR amplitude.

MDA effects on classical appetitive conditioning of the rabbit jaw movement response.

We determined MDA's effects on: (a) conditioning of the rabbit's jaw movement response (JMR) (Experiment 1); and (b) nonassociative JMRs and unconditioned JMRs (Experiment 2). Rabbits were administered 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA; 0, 2, or 4 mg/kg) into the marginal ear vein 20-30 min prior to each of 10 daily sessions. Experiment 1 involved 30 daily training trials of 15 tone- and 15 light-conditioned stimuli (CSs) paired with a 1-ml squirt of water, as the unconditioned stimulus (UCS), injected into the oral cavity.