Fiocchi Francesca Romana, van Dorp Nikki E S, Dijkhuizen Stephanie, van den Berg Maurits, Wong Aaron, De Zeeuw Chris I, Boele Henk-Jan
Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Department of Psychiatry, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO, United States.
Front Behav Neurosci. 2024 Aug 23;18:1446991. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1446991. eCollection 2024.
The delicate balance between discrimination and generalization of responses is crucial for survival in our ever-changing environment. In particular, it is important to understand how stimulus discrimination affects the level of stimulus generalization. For example, when we use non-differential training for Pavlovian eyeblink conditioning to investigate generalization of cerebellar-related eyelid motor responses, we find generalization effects on amount, amplitude and timing of the conditioned responses. However, it is unknown what the generalization effects are following differential training. We trained mice to close their eyelids to a 10 kHz tone with an air-puff as the reinforcing stimulus (CS+), while alternatingly exposing them to a tone frequency of either 4 kHz, 9 kHz or 9.5 kHz without the air-puff (CS-) during the training blocks. We tested the generalization effects during the expression of the responses after the training period with tones ranging from 2 kHz to 20 kHz. Our results show that the level of generalization tended to positively correlate with the difference between the CS+ and the CS- training stimuli. These effects of generalization were found for the probability, amplitude but not for the timing of the conditioned eyelid responses. These data indicate the specificity of the generalization effects following differential versus non-differential training, highlighting the relevance of discrimination learning for stimulus generalization.
在不断变化的环境中,反应的辨别与泛化之间的微妙平衡对于生存至关重要。尤其重要的是要了解刺激辨别如何影响刺激泛化的程度。例如,当我们使用巴甫洛夫眨眼条件反射的非差异训练来研究小脑相关眼睑运动反应的泛化时,我们发现对条件反应的数量、幅度和时间存在泛化效应。然而,差异训练后的泛化效应是什么尚不清楚。我们训练小鼠在有吹气作为强化刺激(CS+)的情况下对10kHz音调闭眼,同时在训练块期间交替让它们暴露于没有吹气的4kHz、9kHz或9.5kHz音调(CS-)。我们在训练期后的反应表达期间用2kHz至20kHz的音调测试了泛化效应。我们的结果表明,泛化程度倾向于与CS+和CS-训练刺激之间的差异呈正相关。这些泛化效应在条件眼睑反应的概率、幅度方面被发现,但在时间方面未被发现。这些数据表明了差异训练与非差异训练后泛化效应的特异性,突出了辨别学习对刺激泛化的相关性。