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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1982 Apr;79(8):2731–2735. doi: 10.1073/pnas.79.8.2731

Initial localization of the memory trace for a basic form of learning.

D A McCormick, G A Clark, D G Lavond, R F Thompson
PMCID: PMC346276  PMID: 6953427

Abstract

Electrophysiological recording of neuronal unit activity during paired training trials from various regions of the ipsilateral cerebellum in rabbits well trained in the classically conditioned eyelid/nictitating membrane response have revealed both stimulus-evoked responses and responses that form an amplitude/temporal model of the learned behavioral response. Ablation of the ipsilateral, lateral cerebellum completely and permanently abolished the behavioral conditioned response in well-trained animals but had no effect at all on the unconditioned reflex response. In marked contrast, conditioned responses were easily trained in the eye contralateral to the cerebellar lesion. We suggest that at least part of the essential neuronal plasticity that codes the learned response may be localized to the cerebellum.

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Selected References

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