Eyeblink Conditioning

Classical eyeblink conditioning is a basic form of associative learning and is one of the most extensively investigated models of mammalian memory formation. It is now clear that the cerebellum and its associated circuitry are the essential neural substrate for the formation of this associative memory. The eyeblink response is representative of several discrete motor responses to aversive stimuli that can be conditioned to a neutral stimulus. Localization of the critical associative processes underlying this learned behavior indicates that the interpositus nucleus, one of the deep cerebellar nuclei, is necessary for the acquisition and expression of the conditioned eyeblink.