Noise and the Brain by Eggermont Jos

Author:Eggermont, Jos [Eggermont, Jos]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780123914316
Publisher: Elsevier Science
Published: 2013-09-16T04:00:00+00:00

7.3.1.1 Nonassociative Learning

Nonassociative learning is a change in a response to a stimulus that does not involve associating the presented stimulus with another stimulus or event such as reward or punishment. Repeated stimulus presentation without any other consequences results in loss of attention and behavioral response and, usually, in a reduction of the neural responses within relevant sensory cortex. This process of learning not to attend to such a stimulus is termed habituation. It differs from sensory adaptation and fatigue as habituation can occur at long interstimulus intervals, develops more rapidly with weaker stimulus intensity, and is highly specific to the parameters of the repeated stimulus. Repeated sensory stimulation is widely used in studies of sensory cortex; both response decrements and increments, with modification of receptive field properties, have been reported. Thus, habituation is a form of adaptive behavior (or neuroplasticity) that is classified as nonassociative learning.

Sensitization is also a nonassociative learning process because it involves an increase in responding with repeated presentations to a single stimulus. Sensitization refers to the process by which a synapse becomes more efficient in its response to a stimulus. An example of sensitization is that of kindling,15 where repeated stimulation of hippocampal or amygdala neurons (even when induced by repeated stimulation of primary auditory cortex) eventually leads to seizures in laboratory animals. Having been sensitized, very little stimulation is required to produce the seizures.

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