Summary
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1.
To study cellular mechanisms of learning, an attempt has been made to develop an analogue of classical conditioning using the pneumostome-closure avoidance reflex in the snailHelix pomatia.
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Adequate stimuli have been replaced by electrical stimulation of nerves which were chosen on the basis of anatomical and physiological data.
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3.
Four patterns of spike-reaction formation in command neurons have been observed to develop. This reaction was a response to an earlier inefficient conditioned stimulus resulting from its pairing with efficient stimulation of another nerve.
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As the isolated conditioned stimulus was multiply applied, the gained reactions were extinguished. Reactions of two types were capable of restoration after this extinction. This capability was not characteristic of one of the reaction types, which was able to develop as well with unpaired application of the stimuli.
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A neuronal scheme is suggested to account for the genesis of various reaction types. This scheme is based on a particular formation mechanism of one of the reaction types, namely, the appearance of spikes without prepotentials possessing a stable latency with respect to the conditioned stimulus pulses.
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References
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Shtark, M.B., Tretyakov, V.P., Deriy, B.N. et al. Analogue of the conditioned reflex ofHelix pomatia . Cell Mol Neurobiol 2, 71–80 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00711073
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00711073