scholarly journals Reconciling the influence of predictiveness and uncertainty on stimulus salience: a model of attention in associative learning

2011 ◽  
Vol 278 (1718) ◽  
pp. 2553-2561 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillem R. Esber ◽  
Mark Haselgrove
Keyword(s):  
Selective Attention ◽  
Associative Learning ◽  
Neural Circuits ◽  
Attentional Model ◽  
Stimulus Salience ◽  
Cue Salience ◽  
Attentional Theory ◽  
Attentional Models ◽  
High Uncertainty

Theories of selective attention in associative learning posit that the salience of a cue will be high if the cue is the best available predictor of reinforcement (high predictiveness). In contrast, a different class of attentional theory stipulates that the salience of a cue will be high if the cue is an inaccurate predictor of reinforcement (high uncertainty). Evidence in support of these seemingly contradictory propositions has led to: (i) the development of hybrid attentional models that assume the coexistence of separate, predictiveness-driven and uncertainty-driven mechanisms of changes in cue salience; and (ii) a surge of interest in identifying the neural circuits underpinning these mechanisms. Here, we put forward a formal attentional model of learning that reconciles the roles of predictiveness and uncertainty in salience modification. The issues discussed are relevant to psychologists, behavioural neuroscientists and neuroeconomists investigating the roles of predictiveness and uncertainty in behaviour.

scholarly journals Continuous Postnatal Neurogenesis Contributes to Formation of the Olfactory Bulb Neural Circuits and Flexible Olfactory Associative Learning

2014 ◽  
Vol 34 (17) ◽  
pp. 5788-5799 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Sakamoto ◽  
N. Ieki ◽  
G. Miyoshi ◽  
D. Mochimaru ◽  
H. Miyachi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Olfactory Bulb ◽  
Associative Learning ◽  
Neural Circuits ◽  
Postnatal Neurogenesis

scholarly journals Cue competition influences biconditional discrimination

2018 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 182-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola C Byrom ◽  
Robin A Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Selective Attention ◽  
Cue Competition ◽  
Multiple Cues ◽  
Individual Stimulus ◽  
Stimulus Salience ◽  
Biconditional Discrimination

When multiple cues are presented in compound and trained to predict an outcome, the cues may compete for association with an outcome. However, if both cues are necessary for solution of the discrimination, then competition might be expected to interfere with the solution of the discrimination. We consider how unequal stimulus salience influences learning in configural discriminations, where no individual stimulus predicts the outcome. We compared two hypotheses: (1) salience modulation minimises the initial imbalance in salience and (2) unequal stimulus salience will impair acquisition of configural discriminations. We assessed the effect of varying stimulus salience in a biconditional discrimination (AX+, AY−, BX−, BY+). Across two experiments, we found stronger discrimination when stimuli had matched, rather than mismatched, salience, supporting our second hypothesis. We discuss the implications of this finding for Mackintosh’s model of selective attention, modified elemental models and configural models of learning.

scholarly journals Deletion of the voltage-gated calcium channel, CaV1.3, causes deficits in motor performance and associative learning

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marisol Lauffer ◽  
Hsiang Wen ◽  
Bryn Myers ◽  
Ashley Plumb ◽  
Krystal Parker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Motor Learning ◽  
Associative Learning ◽  
Motor Performance ◽  
Social Preference ◽  
Neural Circuits ◽  
Social Deficits ◽  
Voltage Gated ◽  
Voltage Gated Calcium Channels ◽  
The Brain

AbstractL-type voltage-gated calcium channels (LVGCCs) are important regulators of neuronal activity and are widely expressed throughout the brain. One of the major LVGCC isoforms in the brain is CaV1.3. Mice lacking CaV1.3 (CaV1.3 KO) have impairments in fear conditioning and depressive-like behaviors, which have been linked to the role of CaV1.3 in hippocampal and amygdala function. Genetic variation in CaV1.3 has been linked to a variety of psychiatric disorders, including autism and schizophrenia, which are associated with motor, learning, and social deficits. Here, we explored whether CaV1.3 plays a role in these behaviors. We found that CaV1.3 KO mice have deficits in rotarod learning despite normal locomotor function. Deletion of CaV1.3 is also associated with impaired associative learning on the Erasmus Ladder. We did not observe any impairments in CaV1.3 KO mice on assays of anxiety-like, depression-like, or social preference behaviors. Our results suggest an important role for CaV1.3 in neural circuits involved in motor learning and concur with previous data showing its involvement in associative learning.

scholarly journals Dynamic salience processing in paraventricular thalamus gates associative learning

Science ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 362 (6413) ◽  
pp. 423-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yingjie Zhu ◽  
Gregory Nachtrab ◽  
Piper C. Keyes ◽  
William E. Allen ◽  
Liqun Luo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Associative Learning ◽  
Internal State ◽  
Environment Monitoring ◽  
Behavioral Context ◽  
Effective Learning ◽  
Dynamic Representation ◽  
Stimulus Salience ◽  
Flexible Behavior ◽  
Paraventricular Thalamus ◽  
Reinforcing Stimuli

The salience of behaviorally relevant stimuli is dynamic and influenced by internal state and external environment. Monitoring such changes is critical for effective learning and flexible behavior, but the neuronal substrate for tracking the dynamics of stimulus salience is obscure. We found that neurons in the paraventricular thalamus (PVT) are robustly activated by a variety of behaviorally relevant events, including novel (“unfamiliar”) stimuli, reinforcing stimuli and their predicting cues, as well as omission of the expected reward. PVT responses are scaled with stimulus intensity and modulated by changes in homeostatic state or behavioral context. Inhibition of the PVT responses suppresses appetitive or aversive associative learning and reward extinction. Our findings demonstrate that the PVT gates associative learning by providing a dynamic representation of stimulus salience.

Can Learning and Memory Be Understood?

Physiology ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 1 (6) ◽  
pp. 182-185
Author(s):  
JH Byrne
Keyword(s):  
Associative Learning ◽  
Learning And Memory ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Neural Circuits ◽  
Second Messenger ◽  
Nerve Cells ◽  
Learned Behavior ◽  
Second Messenger Systems ◽  
Mechanistic Understanding ◽  
The Mind

Progress in unraveling the mysteries of the mind has been slow, but recent work indicates that a complete mechanistic understanding of at least simple forms of learning will soon be in hand. For example, it is becoming evident that associative learning is due to changes in existing neural circuits and that the acquisition of a learned behavior is due to the activation of second messenger systems in nerve cells.

The blocking effect in associative learning involves learned biases in rapid attentional capture

2018 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 522-544 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Luque ◽  
Miguel A. Vadillo ◽  
María J. Gutiérrez-Cobo ◽  
Mike E. Le Pelley
Keyword(s):  
Associative Learning ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Blocking Effect ◽  
Attentional Biases ◽  
Value Judgments ◽  
Probe Task ◽  
Show Evidence ◽  
Attentional Models ◽  
The Relationship

Blocking refers to the finding that less is learned about the relationship between a stimulus and an outcome if pairings are conducted in the presence of a second stimulus that has previously been established as a reliable predictor of that outcome. Attentional models of associative learning suggest that blocking reflects a reduction in the attention paid to the blocked cue. We tested this idea in three experiments in which participants were trained in an associative learning task using a blocking procedure. Attention to stimuli was measured 250 ms after onset using an adapted version of the dot probe task. This task was presented at the beginning of each learning trial (Experiments 1 and 2) or in independent trials (Experiment 3). Results show evidence of reduced attention to blocked stimuli (i.e. “attentional blocking”). In addition, this attentional bias correlated with the magnitude of blocking in associative learning, as measured by predictive-value judgments. Moreover, Experiments 2 and 3 found evidence of an influence of learning about predictiveness on memory for episodes involving stimuli. These findings are consistent with a central role of learned attentional biases in producing the blocking effect, and in the encoding of new memories.

scholarly journals Caudate stimulation enhances learning

Brain ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 142 (10) ◽  
pp. 2930-2937 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah K Bick ◽  
Shaun R Patel ◽  
Husam A Katnani ◽  
Noam Peled ◽  
Alik Widge ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Associative Learning ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Neural Circuits ◽  
Memory Disorders ◽  
Related Activity ◽  
Depth Electrodes ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽  
Promising Treatment ◽  
Seizure Localization

Neuromodulation offers the possibility of precise alteration of disordered neural circuits. In patients with depth electrodes implanted for seizure localization, Bick et al. show that caudate stimulation improves associative learning and modulates learning-related activity in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Caudate stimulation may be a promising treatment for memory disorders.

You see what you have learned. Evidence for an interrelation of associative learning and visual selective attention

2015 ◽  
Vol 52 (11) ◽  
pp. 1483-1497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Feldmann-Wüstefeld ◽  
Metin Uengoer ◽  
Anna Schubö
Keyword(s):  
Selective Attention ◽  
Associative Learning ◽  
Visual Selective Attention
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