Operant conditioning of the H-reflex, the electrical analog of the spinal stretch reflex, is a simple model of skill acquisition and involves plasticity in the spinal cord. Previous work showed that the cerebellum is essential for down-conditioning the H-reflex. This study asks whether the cerebellum is also essential for maintaining…

Long-term memory formation is regulated by many distinct molecular mechanisms that control gene expression. An emerging model for effecting a stable, coordinated pattern of gene transcription involves epigenetic tagging through modifications of histones or DNA. In this study, we investigated the regulation of histone phosphorylation in the…

Several data have shown that the neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) is necessary for long-term memory formation and might play a role in the structural reorganization of synapses. The NCAM, encoded by a single gene, is represented by several isoforms that differ with regard to their content of alpha-2,8-linked sialic acid residues (PSA) on their…

Freezing to a tone following auditory fear conditioning is commonly considered as a measure of the strength of the tone-shock association. The decrease in freezing on repeated nonreinforced tone presentation following conditioning, in turn, is attributed to the formation of an inhibitory association between tone and shock that leads to a…

Using pharmacological techniques, it has been demonstrated that both consolidation and extinction of Pavlovian fear conditioning are dependent to some extent upon L-type voltage-gated calcium channels (LVGCCs). Although these studies have successfully implicated LVGCCs in Pavlovian fear conditioning, they do not provide information about the…

Transcriptional activation is a key process required for long-term memory formation. Recently, the transcriptional coactivator CREB-binding protein (CBP) was shown to be critical for hippocampus-dependent long-term memory and hippocampal synaptic plasticity. As a coactivator with intrinsic histone acetyltransferase activity, CBP interacts with…

The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) has been implicated in encoding whether or not an action is worth performing in view of the expected benefit and the cost of performing the action. Dopamine input to the ACC may be critical for this form of effort-based decision making; however, the role of distinct ACC dopamine receptors is yet unknown.…

We report that post-training inactivation of basolateral amygdala region (BLA) with muscimol impaired memory for contextual-fear conditioning (as measured by freezing) and intra-BLA norepinephrine enhanced this memory. However, pre-exposure to the context eliminated both of these effects. These findings provide a likely explanation of why an…

Long-term memory is dependent on protein synthesis and inhibiting such synthesis following training results in amnesia for the task. Proteins synthesized during training must be transported to the synapse and disrupting microtubules with Colchicines, and hence, blocking transport, results in transient amnesia. Reactivating memory for a previously…

Evidence has shown that the insulin and insulin receptor (IR) play a role in cognitive function. However, the detailed mechanisms underlying insulin's action on learning and memory are not yet understood. Here we investigated changes in long-term memory-associated expression of the IR and downstream molecules in the rat hippocampus. After…

This article reports the behavior of 3 newborn chimpanzees in the first 4 months of life, reared by their mothers and living in a community of 14 chimpanzees in a semi-natural enriched environment. We focused on spontaneous activity during the night partly because sleeping behavior constitutes an essential part of the infants' activity.…

Preparation is vital to the success of any journey, especially when one is dealing with a faraway land and 700 sixth graders. Creating a virtual journey to Africa, the author describes an art lesson plan for sixth graders focusing on life on the Serengeti, by having students create tissue paper collages through a three-stage project. (Contains 1…

In this article, the authors describe how to construct a mock crime scene, acquire a pig carcass, sample its arthropod fauna, integrate photographic, climatic and arthropod successional data, and estimate the postmortem interval (PMI) from insect successional timetables. The experimental layout described in this article represents the untreated…

Activities that promote "active thinking" help children learn mathematics and science by allowing them to work at forming relationships, making connections, and integrating concepts and procedures. Dynamic and exciting children's books invite and motivate children to learn mathematics and science by responding to stories, characters, and their…

Classic matching theory, which is based on Herrnstein's (1961) original matching equation and includes the well-known quantitative law of effect, is almost certainly false. The theory is logically inconsistent with known experimental findings, and experiments have shown that its central constant-"k" assumption is not tenable. Modern matching…