Classical Conditioning with Electrical Stimulation of Cerebellum As Both Conditioned and Unconditioned Stimulus

Stimulating electrodes were implanted in rabbit cerebellum, providing an electrical conditioned stimulus (CS) activating cortical parallel fibers and thence Purkinje and other cells, and an electrical unconditioned stimulus (US) activating underlying white matter and eliciting unconditioned responses. Paired CS-US presentations led to the development of conditioned responses, which showed extinction following CS-alone trials and reacquisition with significant savings on reinstatement of paired trials. Increased local excitability as a result of paired training (but not following unpaired stimulus presentations) was observed in cerebellar cortex, as manifested in substantial decreases in CS threshold for response elicitation in all subjects. This preparation offers a model for the study of plastic neuronal interactions within cerebellar networks critically involved in associative learning.