CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
It is a behaviorist theory of learning.
It was discovered by Ivan Pavlov.
It is a process by which naturally occurring stimulus is paired with a stimulus in the
environment and as a result the environmental stimulus eventually elicit the same
response as the natural stimulus.
BRAIN PATHWAY IN CC
Neuroscientists have studied the anatomy and physiology of classical conditioning
using many models, such as the gill withdrawal reflex in Aplysia (a marine
invertebrate) and the eyeblink reflex in the rabbit.
ROLE OF AMYGDALA
The amygdala is important in classically conditioned emotional responses.
An aversive stimulus such as a painful foot shock produces a variety of behavioral,
autonomic, and hormonal responses: freezing, increased blood pressure, secretion of
adrenal stress hormones, and so on.
After being processed by the auditory cortex, information about the CS (the tone)
reaches the lateral nucleus of the amygdala.
This nucleus also receives information about the US (the foot shock) from the
somatosensory system.
The lateral nucleus of the amygdala contains neurons whose axons project to the
central nucleus.
Terminal buttons from neurons that transmit auditory and somatosensory information
to the lateral nucleus form synapses with dendritic spines on these neurons.
When there is a painful stimulus, somatosensory input activates strong synapses in the
lateral nucleus.
As a result, the neurons in this nucleus begin firing, which activates neurons in the
central nucleus, evoking an unlearned (unconditioned) emotional response.
ROLE OF GLUTAMATE
The changes in the lateral amygdala responsible for acquisition of a conditioned
emotional response involve a series of synaptic changes called long-term potentiation
(LTP).
LTP is accomplished through the activation of NMDA receptors and the insertion of
additional AMPA receptors into the postsynaptic membrane. These synaptic changes
in the glutamate system serve to increase the EPSP to the postsynaptic cell.
Rumpel paired a tone with a shock and established a conditioned emotional response.
They found that the learning experience caused additional AMPA receptors to be
inserted and increased EPSPs to dendritic spines of synapses between lateral
amygdala neurons and axons that provide auditory input.
The results of these studies support the conclusion that LTP among glutamate
synapses in the lateral amygdala plays a critical role in the establishment of
conditioned emotional responses.
IMPACT OF TRAUMA ON THE BRAIN:
For a brain to work effectively all parts of the brain need to communicate from the
bottom of the brain to the upper parts of the higher brain and also between the left and
right side of the brain.
When the lower part of the brain responsible for survival is repeatedly activated and
prolonged in infancy and in early childhood this can reduce the connections between
other parts of the brain. This can significantly impact on our ability to learn, to form
memories, to regulate emotions, it can affect our ability to be calm, to learn, to think,
to reflect and to respond flexibly and in a planned way.
Research shows, for example, that adults with PTSD have a reduction in an area of
their prefrontal cortex and a reduction in the volume of the hippocampus. In the
absence of these regulatory mechanisms adults with PTSD may feel overwhelmed
with stress and anxiety even in the absence of any real danger.
The developing brain remembers traumatic events and abusive experiences, so that a
survival response can be triggered even in the absence of danger. This can appear as
flight, fight or freeze behaviours and responses. The traumatised lower brain tends to
predominate and over time the brain can become more and more sensitised to real and
perceived threat.
By knowing more about the neuroscience behind the changes in the brain resulting
from trauma, this helps us understand and interpret infant’s, children and young
people’s behaviours. It also helps guide young people, parents, Carers, Professionals
and frontline workers in terms of what approaches and treatments are helpful, healing
and effective.
Each and every contact with an infant, child or young person, no matter how brief, is
a precious opportunity to impact positively on their recovery and promote healing.
There are multiple, daily opportunities to impact positively on a child or young
person’s emotional wellbeing and to help build resilience and promote healing.
BRAIN PLASTICITY
Neuroplasticity, also known as neural plasticity or brain plasticity, is a process that
involves adaptive structural and functional changes to the brain.
The definition is “the ability of the nervous system to change its activity in response
to intrinsic or extrinsic stimuli by reorganizing its structure, functions, or
connections.”
Clinically, it is the process of brain changes after injury, such as a stroke or traumatic
brain injury (TBI). These changes can either be beneficial (restoration of function
after injury), neutral (no change), or negative (can have pathological consequences).
Neuroplasticity can be broken down into two major mechanisms:
Neuronal regeneration/collateral sprouting includes concepts such as synaptic
plasticity and neurogenesis.
Functional reorganization: This includes concepts such as equipotentiality, vicariation,
and diaschisis.
Plasticity after injury:
Neuroplasticity is a complicated process that is still being elucidated; however, the
concept can be applied in the setting of injury to the brain. Neuroplasticity is
traditionally thought of as occurring in 3 phases.
First 48 hours: Depending on the mechanism of the injury (such as stroke or TBI),
there is initial damage that cumulates as cell death with the loss of certain cortical
pathways associated with the lost neurons. The brain attempts to use secondary
neuronal networks to maintain function.
The following weeks: Recruitment of support cells occurs in this period as the
cortical pathways shift from inhibitory to excitatory. Synaptic plasticity and new
connections are made during this period.
Weeks to months afterward: The brain continues to remodel itself via axonal
sprouting and further reorganization around the damage.
Clinical Significance
Clinically, several treatment options can help guide neuroplasticity in restoring
function and treating unwanted symptoms.
An example is mirror therapy, a technique used in phantom limb pain.
One of the most studied rehabilitation techniques is constraint-induced movement
therapy (CIMT).
MOTOR LEARNING
The second major category of learning, motor learning, is actually a component of
stimulus-response learning.
Motor learning is the establishment of changes (responses) within motor systems
following a stimulus.
Motor learning cannot occur without sensory stimulus from the environment.
Motor learning differs from other forms of learning primarily in the degree to which
new forms of behavior are learned; the more novel the behavior, the more the neural
circuits in the motor systems of the brain must be modified.
PERCEPTUAL LEARNING
Perceptual learning is the ability to learn to recognize stimuli that have been perceived
before.
Its primary function is the ability to identify and categorize objects and situations.
Unless we have learned to recognize something, we cannot learn how we should
behave with respect to it.
Each of our sensory systems is capable of perceptual learning. For example, we can
learn to recognize objects by their visual appearance, the sounds they make, how they
feel, or how they smell.
Perceptual learning appears to be accomplished primarily by changes in the sensory
association cortex. That is, learning to recognize complex visual stimuli involves
changes in the visual association cortex, learning to recognize complex auditory
stimuli involves changes in the auditory association cortex, and so on.
RELATIONAL LEARNING
The three forms of learning we have described so far consist primarily of changes in
one sensory system, between one sensory system and the motor system, or in the
motor system. But learning is usually more complex than that.
The fourth form of learning involves learning the relationships among individual
stimuli.
For example, a somewhat more complex form of perceptual learning involves
connections between different areas of the association cortex. When we hear the
sound of a cat meowing in the dark, we can imagine what a cat looks like and what it
would feel like if we touched its fur. Thus, the neural circuits in the auditory
association cortex that recognize the meow are somehow connected to the appropriate
circuits in the visual association cortex and the somatosensory association cortex.
These interconnections, too, are accomplished as a result of learning.
Perception of spatial location—spatial learning—also involves learning about the
relationships among many stimuli.
