Habituation

Last updated

Habituation is a form of non-associative learning in which a non-reinforced response to a stimulus decreases after repeated or prolonged presentations of that stimulus. [1] For example, organisms may habituate to repeated sudden loud noises when they learn these have no consequences. [2]

Contents

Responses that habituate include those that involve the entire organism or those that involve only biological component systems of the organism. The broad ubiquity of habituation across all forms of life has resulted in it being called "the simplest, most universal form of learning...as fundamental a characteristic of life as DNA." [3] Functionally-speaking, by diminishing the response to an inconsequential stimulus, habituation is thought to free up cognitive resources to other stimuli that are associated with biologically important events.

A progressive decline of a behavior in a habituation procedure may also reflect nonspecific effects such as fatigue, which must be ruled out when the interest is in habituation. [4] Habituation is relevant in psychiatry and psychopathology, as a number of neuropsychiatric conditions, including autism, schizophrenia, migraine, and Tourette's, show reductions in habituation to a variety of stimulus-types both simple and complex. [5]

Drug habituation

There is an additional connotation to the term habituation which applies to psychological dependency on drugs, and is included in several online dictionaries. [6] A team of specialists from the World Health Organization assembled in 1957 to address the problem of drug addiction and adopted the term "drug habituation" to distinguish some drug-use behaviors from drug addiction. According to the WHO lexicon of alcohol and drug terms, habituation is defined as "becoming accustomed to any behavior or condition, including psychoactive substance use". [7] By 1964 the America Surgeon's General report on smoking and health [8] included four features that characterize drug habituation according to WHO: 1) "a desire (but not a compulsion) to continue taking the drug for the sense of improved well-being which it engenders"; 2) "little or no tendency to increase the dose"; 3) "some degree of psychic dependence on the effect of the drug, but absence of physical dependence and hence of an abstinence syndrome"; 4) "detrimental effects, if any, primarily on the individual". However, also in 1964, a committee from the World Health Organization once again convened and decided the definitions of drug habituation and drug addiction were insufficient, replacing the two terms with "drug dependence". Substance dependence is the preferred term today when describing drug-related disorders, [9] whereas the use of the term drug habituation has declined substantially. This is not to be confused with true habituation to drugs, wherein repeated doses have an increasingly diminished effect, as is often seen in addicts or persons taking painkillers frequently. [10]

Characteristics

Habituation as a form of non-associative learning can be distinguished from other behavioral changes (e.g., sensory/neural adaptation, fatigue) by considering the characteristics of habituation that have been identified over several decades of research. The characteristics first described by Thompson and Spencer [11] were updated in 2008 and 2009, to include the following: [12]

Repeated presentation of a stimulus will cause a decrease in reaction to the stimulus. Habituation is also proclaimed to be a form of implicit learning, which is commonly the case with continually repeated stimuli. This characteristic is consistent with the definition of habituation as a procedure, but to confirm habituation as a process, additional characteristics must be demonstrated. Also observed is spontaneous recovery. That is, a habituated response to a stimulus recovers (increases in magnitude) when a significant amount of time (hours, days, weeks) passes between stimulus presentations.

"Potentiation of habituation" is observed when tests of spontaneous recovery are given repeatedly. In this phenomenon, the decrease in responding that follows spontaneous recovery becomes more rapid with each test of spontaneous recovery. Also noted was that an increase in the frequency of stimulus presentation (i.e., shorter interstimulus interval) will increase the rate of habituation. Furthermore, continued exposure to the stimulus after the habituated response has plateaued (i.e., show no further decrement) may have additional effects on subsequent tests of behavior such as delaying spontaneous recovery. The concepts of stimulus generalization and stimulus discrimination will be observed. Habituation to an original stimulus will also occur to other stimuli that are similar to the original stimulus (stimulus generalization). The more similar the new stimulus is to the original stimulus, the greater the habituation that will be observed. When a subject shows habituation to a new stimulus that is similar to the original stimulus but not to a stimulus that is different from the original stimulus, then the subject is showing stimulus discrimination. (For example, if one was habituated to the taste of lemon, their responding would increase significantly when presented with the taste of lime). Stimulus discrimination can be used to rule out sensory adaptation and fatigue as an alternative explanation of the habituation process.

Another observation mentioned is when a single introduction of a different stimulus late in the habituation procedure when responding to the eliciting stimulus has declined can cause an increase in the habituated response. This increase in responding is temporary and is called "dishabituation" and always occurs to the original eliciting stimulus (not to the added stimulus). Researchers also use evidence of dishabituation to rule out sensory adaptation and fatigue as alternative explanations of the habituation process. Habituation of dishabituation can occur. The amount of dishabituation that occurs as a result of the introduction of a different stimulus can decrease after repeated presentation of the "dishabituating" stimulus.

Some habituation procedures appear to result in a habituation process that last days or weeks. This is considered long-term habituation. It persists over long durations of time (i.e., shows little or no spontaneous recovery). Long-term habituation can be distinguished from short-term habituation which is identified by the nine characteristics listed above.

Biological mechanisms

The changes in synaptic transmission that occur during habituation have been well-characterized in the Aplysia gill and siphon withdrawal reflex. Habituation has been shown in essentially every species of animal and at least, in one species of plants (Mimosa pudica), [13] in isolated neuronally-differentiated cell-lines, as well as in quantum perovskite. [14] The experimental investigation of simple organisms such as the large protozoan Stentor coeruleus provides an understanding of the cellular mechanisms that are involved in the habituation process. [15]

Neuroimaging

Within psychology, habituation has been studied through different forms of neuroimaging like PET scan and fMRI. Within fMRI, the response that habituates is the blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signals triggered by stimuli. Decreases of the BOLD signal are interpreted as habituation. [16]

The amygdala is one of the most-studied areas of the brain in relation to habituation. A common approach is to observe the visual processing of facial expressions. A study by Breiter and colleagues used fMRI scans to identify which areas of the brain habituate and at what rate. [17] Their results showed that the human amygdala responds and rapidly habituates preferentially to fearful facial expressions over neutral ones. They also observed significant amygdala signal changes in response to happy faces over neutral faces.

Blackford, Allen, Cowan, and Avery (2012) compared the effect of an extremely inhibited temperament and an extremely uninhibited temperament on habituation. Their study found that over repeated presentations individuals with an uninhibited temperament demonstrated habituation in both the amygdala and hippocampus, whereas participants with an inhibited temperament demonstrated habituation in neither brain region. The researchers suggest that this failure to habituate reflects a social learning deficit in individuals with an extremely inhibited temperament, which is a possible mechanism for a higher risk of social anxiety. [18]

Debate about learning-status

Although habituation has been regarded as a learning process by some as early as 1887, [19] its learning status remained controversial up until the 1920s - 1930s. [20] While conceding that reflexes may "relax" or otherwise decrease with repeated stimulation, the "invariance doctrine" stipulated that reflexes should not remain constant and that variable reflexes were a pathological manifestation. Indeed, air pilots who showed habituation of post-rotational nystagmus reflex were sometimes ejected from or not recruited for service for World War I: on the grounds that a variable reflex response indicated either a defective vestibular apparatus or a lack of vigilance. [21] [22] [20] Eventually, however, more research from the medical and scientific communities concluded that stimulus-dependent variability reflexes is clinically normal. [23] The opposition to the considering habituation a form of learning was also based on the assumption that learning processes must produce novel behavioral responses and must occur in the cerebral cortex. [21] Non-associative forms of learning such as habituation (and sensitization) do not produce novel (conditioned) responses but rather diminish a pre-existing (innate) responses and often are shown to depend on peripheral (non-cerebral) synaptic changes in the sensory-motor pathway. Most modern learning theorists, however, consider any behavioral change that occurs as a result of experience to be learning, so long as it cannot be accounted for by motor fatigue, sensory adaptation, developmental changes or damage.

Criteria for verifying a response-decline as learning

Importantly, systematic response-declines can be produced by non-learning factors such as sensory adaptation (obstruction of stimulus detection), motor fatigue, or damage. Three diagnostic criteria are used to distinguish response-declines produced by these non-learning factors and response-declines produced by habituation (learning) processes. These are:

  1. Recovery by Dishabituation
  2. Sensitivity of Spontaneous Recovery to Rate-of-Stimulation
  3. Stimulus-specificity

Early studies relied on the demonstration of 1) Recovery by Dishabituation (the brief recovery of the response to the eliciting stimulus when another stimulus is added) to distinguish habituation from sensory adaptation and fatigue. More recently, 2) Sensitivity of Spontaneous Recovery to Rate-of-Stimulation and 3) Stimulus-specificity have been used as experimental evidence for the habituation process. [12] Spontaneous Recovery is sensitive to spontaneous recovery, showing recovery that is inversely correlated with the amount of response-decline. This is the opposite of what would be expected if sensory adaptation or motor fatigue were the cause of the response-decline. Sensory adaptation (or neural adaptation) occurs when an organism can no longer detect the stimulus as efficiently as when first presented and motor fatigue occurs when an organism is able to detect the stimulus but can no longer respond efficiently. Stimulus-specificity stipulates that the response-decline is not general (due to motor fatigue) but occurs only to the original stimulus that was repeated. If a response-decline shows 1) dishabituation, 2) spontaneous recovery that is inversely correlated with the extent of decline, and/or 3) stimulus-specificity, then habituation learning is supported.

Despite the ubiquity of habituation and its modern acceptance as a genuine form of learning it has not enjoyed the same focus within research as other forms of learning. On this topic, the animal psychologist James McConnell said "...nobody cares…much about habituation"). [24] It has been suggested that the apathy held towards habituation is due to 1) resistance from traditional learning theorists maintain memory requires reproduction of propositional/linguistic content; 2) resistance from behaviorists who maintain that "true" learning requires the development of a novel response (whereas habituation is a decrease in a pre-existing response); 3) the behavioral measure of habituation (i.e., a response-decline) is very susceptible to confound by non-learning factors (e.g., fatigue) which, therefore, make it more difficult to study).

Theories

Various models have been proposed to account for habituation including the Stimulus-Model Comparator theory formulated by Evgeny Sokolov, [25] the Groves and Thompson dual-process theory, [26] and the SOP (Standard Operating Procedures/Sometimes Opponent Process) model formulated by Allan Wagner [27]

Stimulus-model comparator theory

The stimulus-model comparator theory emerged from the research of Sokolov who used the orienting response as the cornerstone of his studies, and operationally defining the orienting response as EEG activity. Orienting responses are heightened sensitivity experienced by an organism when exposed to a new or changing stimulus. Orienting responses can result in overt, observable behaviors as well as psychophysiological responses such as EEG activity and undergo habituation with repeated presentation of the eliciting stimulus. The Sokolov model [25] assumes that when a stimulus is experienced several times, the nervous system creates a model of the expected stimulus (a stimulus model). With additional presentations of the stimulus, the experienced stimulus is compared with the stimulus model. If the experienced stimulus matches the stimulus model, responding is inhibited. At first the stimulus model is not a very good representation of the presented stimulus, and thus responding continues because of this mismatch. With additional presentations the stimulus model is improved, there is no longer a mismatch, and responding is inhibited causing habituation. However, if the stimulus is changed so that it no longer matches the stimulus model, the orienting response is no longer inhibited. Sokolov locates the stimulus model in the cerebral cortex.

Dual-process theory

The Groves and Thompson dual-process theory of habituation posits that two separate processes exist in the central nervous system that interacts to produce habituation. The two distinct processes are a habituation process and a sensitization process. The dual-process theory argues that all noticeable stimuli will elicit both of these processes and that the behavioral output will reflect a summation of both processes. The habituation process is decremental, whereas the sensitization process is incremental enhancing the tendency to respond. Thus when the habituation process exceeds the sensitization process behavior shows habituation, but if the sensitization process exceeds the habituation process, behavior shows sensitization. Groves and Thompson hypothesize the existence of two neural pathways: an "S-R pathway" involved with the habituation process, and a "state pathway" involved with sensitization. The state system is seen as equivalent to a general state of arousal. [26]

Examples of the habituation process in animals and humans

Habituation has been observed in an enormously wide range of species from motile single-celled organisms such as the amoeba [28] and Stentor coeruleus [15] to sea slugs [29] to humans. [30] Habituation processes are adaptive, allowing animals to adjust their innate behaviors to changes in their natural world. A natural animal instinct, for example, is to protect themselves and their territory from any danger and potential predators. An animal needs to respond quickly to the sudden appearance of a predator. What may be less obvious is the importance of defensive responses to the sudden appearance of any new, unfamiliar stimulus, whether it is dangerous or not. An initial defensive response to a new stimulus is important because if an animal fails to respond to a potentially dangerous unknown stimulus, the results could be deadly. Despite this initial, innate defensive response to an unfamiliar stimulus, the response becomes habituated if the stimulus repeatedly occurs but causes no harm. An example of this is the prairie dog habituating to humans. Prairie dogs give alarm calls when they detect a potentially dangerous stimulus. This defensive call occurs when any mammal, snake, or large bird approaches them. However, they habituate to noises, such as human footsteps, that occur repeatedly but result in no harm to them. If prairie dogs never habituate to nonthreatening stimuli, they would be constantly sending out alarm calls and wasting their time and energy. [31] However, the habituation process in prairie dogs may depend on several factors including the particular defensive response. In one study that measured several different responses to the repeated presence of humans, the alarm calls of prairie dogs showed habituation whereas the behavior of escaping into their burrows showed sensitization. [32]

Another example of the importance of habituation in the animal world is provided by a study with harbor seals. In one study researchers measured the responses of harbor seals to underwater calls of different types of killer whales. [33] The seals showed a strong response when they heard the calls of mammal-eating killer whales. However, they did not respond strongly when hearing familiar calls of the local fish-eating population. The seals, therefore, are capable of habituating to the calls of harmless predators, in this case, harmless killer whales. While some researchers prefer to simply describe the adaptive value of observable habituated behavior, others find it useful to infer psychological processes from the observed behavior change. For example, habituation of aggressive responses in male bullfrogs has been explained as "an attentional or learning process that allows animals to form enduring mental representations of the physical properties of a repeated stimulus and to shift their focus of attention away from sources of irrelevant or unimportant stimulation". [34]

Habituation of innate defensive behaviors is also adaptive in humans, such as habituation of a startle response to a sudden loud noise. But habituation is much more ubiquitous even in humans. An example of habituation that is an essential element of everyone's life is the changing response to food as it is repeatedly experienced during a meal. When people eat the same food during a meal, they begin to respond less to the food as they become habituated to the motivating properties of the food and decrease their consumption. Eating less during a meal is usually interpreted as reaching satiety or "getting full", but experiments suggest that habituation also plays an important role. Many experiments with animals and humans have shown that providing variety in a meal increases the amount that is consumed in a meal, most likely because habituation is stimulus-specific and because variety may introduce dishabituation effects. [35] Food variety also slows the rate of habituation in children and may be an important contributing factor to the recent increases in obesity. [36]


We[ who? ] also find that habituation is found in our emotional responses, called the opponent-process theory, proposed by researchers Richard Solomon and John Corbit (1974). It is known that responses by the subject tend to change by repetitively presenting certain stimuli. But concerning the opponent-process theory, some emotional reactions to the stimuli weaken (decrease) while others' reactions are strengthened (increase). Take, for example, that it is the end of the semester at your university. You have been worried about your grade for the entire semester and you need a grade of "A" on the final to pass the course. You study efficiently for the test and after taking it, you feel that you will receive a very high grade. But once you check the gradebook, you see that you did not get an "A" on your exam. Instead, you received a "C+". Now you are distraught and know that there is no other way to pass the course for the semester. After a few minutes you begin to calm down and by the next hour, you are back to your normal emotional state. This is an example of an emotional response explained by the opponent-process theory. It begins with an outside stimulus provoking an emotional reaction that increases rapidly until it is at its most intense (presumably after you learned that you did not receive a high letter grade). Gradually, your emotional state declines to a level lower than normal and eventually returns to neutral. This pattern coincides with two internal processes referred to as the a-process and b-process. The a-process, or "affective" response to a stimulus, is the initial emotional response one has and can be pleasant or unpleasant. The b-process is the after reaction and has a lower intensity than the a-process. The a-process is very fast-acting and ends as soon as the stimulus ends or is removed. Unlike the a-process, the b-process is much slower in returning to baseline. Concerning the definition of the opponent process theory—repeated presentations present habituation—the a-process does not necessarily change. It is the b-process that is strengthened instead and rises more quickly to reach the highest intensity, and much slower in attempting to return to baseline after the stimulus is removed. To sum it all up, with the opponent-process theory, repeated presentations of the same stimulus will result in habituation, where subjects show little to no reaction. It is the after-reaction that is much larger and prolonged, than if an initial reaction to a stimulus occurred. [37]

Relevance to neuropsychiatry

Habituation abnormalities have been repeatedly observed in a variety of neuropsychiatric conditions including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), fragile X syndrome, schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease (PD), Huntington's disease (HD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Tourette's syndrome (TS), and migraine. [5] In human clinical studies, habituation is most often studied using the acoustic startle reflex; acoustic tones are delivered to participants through headphones and the subsequent eye-blink response is recorded directly by observation or by electromyography (EMG). Depending on the disorder, habituation phenomena have been implicated as a cause, symptom, or therapy. [5] Reduced habituation is the most common habituation phenotype reported across neuropsychiatric disorders although enhanced habituation has been observed in HD and ADHD. [5] It also appears that abnormal habituation is often predictive of symptom severity in several neuropsychiatric disorders, including ASD, [38] PD, [39] and HD. [40] [41] Moreover, there are instances where treatments that normalise the habituation-deficit also improve other associated symptoms. [42] As a therapy, habituation processes have been hypothesized to underlie the efficacy of behavioural therapies (i.e. habit reversal training, exposure therapy) for TS and PTSD, [43] although extinction processes may be operating instead.

Uses and challenges of the habituation procedure

Habituation procedures are used by researchers for many reasons. For example, in a study on aggression in female chimpanzees from a group known as the " Kasakela Chimpanzee Community ", researchers habituated the chimpanzees by repeatedly exposing them to the presence of human beings. [44] Their efforts to habituate the chimpanzees before the field researchers studied the animal's behavior was necessary in order for them to eventually be able to note the natural behavior of the chimpanzees, instead of simply noting chimpanzee behavior as a response to the presence of the researchers. In another study, Mitumba chimpanzees in the Gombe National Park were habituated for at least four years before the introduction of systematic data collection. [45]

Researchers also use habituation and dishabituation procedures in the laboratory to study the perceptual and cognitive capabilities of human infants. The presentation of a visual stimulus to an infant elicits looking behavior that habituates with repeated presentations of the stimulus. When changes to the habituated stimulus are made (or a new stimulus is introduced), the looking behavior returns (dishabituates). A recent fMRI study revealed that the presentation of a dishabituating stimulus has an observable, physical effect upon the brain. [46] In one study the mental spatial representations of infants were assessed using the phenomenon of dishabituation. [47] Infants were presented repeatedly with an object in the same position on a table. Once the infants habituated to the object (i.e., spent less time looking at it) either the object was spatially moved while the infant remained at the same place near the table or the object was left in the same place but the infant was moved to the opposite side of the table. In both cases, the spatial relationship between the object and the infant had changed, but only in the former case did the object itself move. Would the infants know the difference? Or would they treat both cases as if the object itself moved? The results revealed a return of looking behavior (dishabituation) when the object's position was changed, but not when the infant's position was changed. Dishabituation indicates that infants perceived a significant change in the stimulus. Therefore, the infants understood when the object itself moved and when it did not. Only when the object itself moved were they interested in it again (dishabituation). When the object remained in the same position as before it was perceived as the same old boring thing (habituation). In general, habituation/dishabituation procedures help researchers determine the way infants perceive their environments.

Habituation is a useful primary tool for then assessing mental processes in the stages of infancy. The purpose for these tests, or paradigms records looking time, which is the baseline measurement. Habituation of looking time helps to assess certain child capabilities such as: memory, sensitivity, and helps the baby recognize certain abstract properties. Habituation is also found to be influenced by unchangeable factors such as infant age, gender, and complexity of the stimulus. (Caron & Caron, 1969; Cohen, DeLoache, & Rissman, 1975; Friedman, Nagy, & Carpenter, 1970; Miller, 1972; Wetherford & Cohen, 1973).

Though there are various challenges that come with habituation. Some infants have preferences for some stimuli based on their static or dynamic properties. Infant dishabituation also is not perceived as a direct measure for mental processes as well. In previous theories of habituation, an infant's dishabituation was thought to represent their own realization of the remembered stimulus of stimuli. For example: if infants would be dishabituated to a certain color item to a new item, it would be noticed that they remembered the color and compared the two colors for differences. Also, another challenge that comes with habituation is the dichotomy of novelty vs familiar stimuli. If an infant preferred a novel still, this meant the infant observed the new spatial relation of the object, but not the object itself. If an infant preferred familiarity, the infant would notice the pattern of the stimuli, instead of the actual new stimuli. [48]

The habituation/dishabituation procedure is also used to discover the resolution of perceptual systems. For instance, by habituating someone to one stimulus, and then observing responses to similar ones, one can detect the smallest degree of difference that is detectable.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

Operant conditioning, also called instrumental conditioning, is a learning process where voluntary behaviors are modified by association with the addition of reward or aversive stimuli. The frequency or duration of the behavior may increase through reinforcement or decrease through punishment or extinction.

Classical conditioning is a behavioral procedure in which a biologically potent stimulus is paired with a neutral stimulus. The term classical conditioning refers to the process of an automatic, conditioned response that is paired with a specific stimulus.

The Aplysia gill and siphon withdrawal reflex (GSWR) is an involuntary, defensive reflex of the sea hare Aplysia californica, a large shell-less sea snail or sea slug. This reflex causes the sea hare's delicate siphon and gill to be retracted when the animal is disturbed. Aplysia californica is used in neuroscience research for studies of the cellular basis of behavior including: habituation, dishabituation, and sensitization, because of the simplicity and relatively large size of the underlying neural circuitry.

Motivational salience is a cognitive process and a form of attention that motivates or propels an individual's behavior towards or away from a particular object, perceived event or outcome. Motivational salience regulates the intensity of behaviors that facilitate the attainment of a particular goal, the amount of time and energy that an individual is willing to expend to attain a particular goal, and the amount of risk that an individual is willing to accept while working to attain a particular goal.

The Rescorla–Wagner model ("R-W") is a model of classical conditioning, in which learning is conceptualized in terms of associations between conditioned (CS) and unconditioned (US) stimuli. A strong CS-US association means that the CS signals predict the US. One might say that before conditioning, the subject is surprised by the US, but after conditioning, the subject is no longer surprised, because the CS predicts the coming of the US. The model casts the conditioning processes into discrete trials, during which stimuli may be either present or absent. The strength of prediction of the US on a trial can be represented as the summed associative strengths of all CSs present during the trial. This feature of the model represented a major advance over previous models, and it allowed a straightforward explanation of important experimental phenomena, most notably the blocking effect. Failures of the model have led to modifications, alternative models, and many additional findings. The model has had some impact on neural science in recent years, as studies have suggested that the phasic activity of dopamine neurons in mesostriatal DA projections in the midbrain encodes for the type of prediction error detailed in the model.

Neural adaptation or sensory adaptation is a gradual decrease over time in the responsiveness of the sensory system to a constant stimulus. It is usually experienced as a change in the stimulus. For example, if a hand is rested on a table, the table's surface is immediately felt against the skin. Subsequently, however, the sensation of the table surface against the skin gradually diminishes until it is virtually unnoticeable. The sensory neurons that initially respond are no longer stimulated to respond; this is an example of neural adaptation.

Extinction is a behavioral phenomenon observed in both operantly conditioned and classically conditioned behavior, which manifests itself by fading of non-reinforced conditioned response over time. When operant behavior that has been previously reinforced no longer produces reinforcing consequences the behavior gradually stops occurring. In classical conditioning, when a conditioned stimulus is presented alone, so that it no longer predicts the coming of the unconditioned stimulus, conditioned responding gradually stops. For example, after Pavlov's dog was conditioned to salivate at the sound of a metronome, it eventually stopped salivating to the metronome after the metronome had been sounded repeatedly but no food came. Many anxiety disorders such as post traumatic stress disorder are believed to reflect, at least in part, a failure to extinguish conditioned fear.

Sensitization is a non-associative learning process in which repeated administration of a stimulus results in the progressive amplification of a response. Sensitization often is characterized by an enhancement of response to a whole class of stimuli in addition to the one that is repeated. For example, repetition of a painful stimulus may make one more responsive to a loud noise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Escape reflex</span>

Escape reflex, or escape behavior, is any kind of escape response found in an animal when it is presented with an unwanted stimulus. It is a simple reflectory reaction in response to stimuli indicative of danger, that initiates an escape motion of an animal. The escape response has been found to be processed in the telencephalon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reward system</span> Group of neural structures responsible for motivation and desire

The reward system is a group of neural structures responsible for incentive salience, associative learning, and positively-valenced emotions, particularly ones involving pleasure as a core component. Reward is the attractive and motivational property of a stimulus that induces appetitive behavior, also known as approach behavior, and consummatory behavior. A rewarding stimulus has been described as "any stimulus, object, event, activity, or situation that has the potential to make us approach and consume it is by definition a reward". In operant conditioning, rewarding stimuli function as positive reinforcers; however, the converse statement also holds true: positive reinforcers are rewarding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Group C nerve fiber</span> One of three classes of nerve fiber in the central nervous system and peripheral nervous system

Group C nerve fibers are one of three classes of nerve fiber in the central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral nervous system (PNS). The C group fibers are unmyelinated and have a small diameter and low conduction velocity, whereas Groups A and B are myelinated. Group C fibers include postganglionic fibers in the autonomic nervous system (ANS), and nerve fibers at the dorsal roots. These fibers carry sensory information.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basolateral amygdala</span> The lateral, basal, and accessory-basal nuclei of the amygdala

The basolateral amygdala, or basolateral complex, consists of the lateral, basal and accessory-basal nuclei of the amygdala. The lateral nuclei receives the majority of sensory information, which arrives directly from the temporal lobe structures, including the hippocampus and primary auditory cortex. The basolateral amygdala also receives dense neuromodulatory inputs from ventral tegmental area (VTA), locus coeruleus (LC), and basal forebrain, whose integrity are important for associative learning. The information is then processed by the basolateral complex and is sent as output to the central nucleus of the amygdala. This is how most emotional arousal is formed in mammals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conditioned place preference</span> Pavlovian conditioning

Conditioned place preference (CPP) is a form of Pavlovian conditioning used to measure the motivational effects of objects or experiences. This motivation comes from the pleasurable aspect of the experience, so that the brain can be reminded of the context that surrounded the "encounter". By measuring the amount of time an animal spends in an area that has been associated with a stimulus, researchers can infer the animal's liking for the stimulus. This paradigm can also be used to measure conditioned place aversion with an identical procedure involving aversive stimuli instead. Both procedures usually involve mice or rats as subjects. This procedure can be used to measure extinction and reinstatement of the conditioned stimulus. Certain drugs are used in this paradigm to measure their reinforcing properties. Two different methods are used to choose the compartments to be conditioned, and these are biased vs. unbiased. The biased method allows the animal to explore the apparatus, and the compartment they least prefer is the one that the drug is administered in and the one they most prefer is the one where the vehicle is injected. This method allows the animal to choose the compartment they get the drug and vehicle. In comparison, the unbiased method does not allow the animal to choose what compartment they get the drug and vehicle in. Instead, the researcher chooses the compartments.

Olfactory memory refers to the recollection of odors. Studies have found various characteristics of common memories of odor memory including persistence and high resistance to interference. Explicit memory is typically the form focused on in the studies of olfactory memory, though implicit forms of memory certainly supply distinct contributions to the understanding of odors and memories of them. Research has demonstrated that the changes to the olfactory bulb and main olfactory system following birth are extremely important and influential for maternal behavior. Mammalian olfactory cues play an important role in the coordination of the mother infant bond, and the following normal development of the offspring. Maternal breast odors are individually distinctive, and provide a basis for recognition of the mother by her offspring.

Prenatal memory, also called fetal memory, is important for the development of memory in humans. Many factors can impair fetal memory and its functions, primarily maternal actions. There are multiple techniques available not only to demonstrate the existence of fetal memory but to measure it. Fetal memory is vulnerable to certain diseases so much so that exposure can permanently damage the development of the fetus and even terminate the pregnancy by aborting the fetus. Maternal nutrition and the avoidance of drugs, alcohol and other substances during all nine months of pregnancy is important to the development of the fetus and its memory systems. The use of certain substances can entail long-term permanent effects on the fetus that can carry on throughout their lifespan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pain in invertebrates</span> Contentious issue

Pain in invertebrates is a contentious issue. Although there are numerous definitions of pain, almost all involve two key components. First, nociception is required. This is the ability to detect noxious stimuli which evokes a reflex response that moves the entire animal, or the affected part of its body, away from the source of the stimulus. The concept of nociception does not necessarily imply any adverse, subjective feeling; it is a reflex action. The second component is the experience of "pain" itself, or suffering—i.e., the internal, emotional interpretation of the nociceptive experience. Pain is therefore a private, emotional experience. Pain cannot be directly measured in other animals, including other humans; responses to putatively painful stimuli can be measured, but not the experience itself. To address this problem when assessing the capacity of other species to experience pain, argument-by-analogy is used. This is based on the principle that if a non-human animal's responses to stimuli are similar to those of humans, it is likely to have had an analogous experience. It has been argued that if a pin is stuck in a chimpanzee's finger and they rapidly withdraw their hand, then argument-by-analogy implies that like humans, they felt pain. It has been questioned why the inference does not then follow that a cockroach experiences pain when it writhes after being stuck with a pin. This argument-by-analogy approach to the concept of pain in invertebrates has been followed by others.

Spontaneous recovery is a phenomenon of learning and memory that was first named and described by Ivan Pavlov in his studies of classical (Pavlovian) conditioning. In that context, it refers to the re-emergence of a previously extinguished conditioned response after a delay. Such a recovery of "lost" behaviors can be observed within a variety of domains, and the recovery of lost human memories is often of particular interest. For a mathematical model for spontaneous recovery see Further Reading.

Many experiments have been done to find out how the brain interprets stimuli and how animals develop fear responses. The emotion, fear, has been hard-wired into almost every individual, due to its vital role in the survival of the individual. Researchers have found that fear is established unconsciously and that the amygdala is involved with fear conditioning.

Generalization is the concept that humans, other animals, and artificial neural networks use past learning in present situations of learning if the conditions in the situations are regarded as similar. The learner uses generalized patterns, principles, and other similarities between past experiences and novel experiences to more efficiently navigate the world. For example, if a person has learned in the past that every time they eat an apple, their throat becomes itchy and swollen, they might assume they are allergic to all fruit. When this person is offered a banana to eat, they reject it upon assuming they are also allergic to it through generalizing that all fruits cause the same reaction. Although this generalization about being allergic to all fruit based on experiences with one fruit could be correct in some cases, it may not be correct in all. Both positive and negative effects have been shown in education through learned generalization and its contrasting notion of discrimination learning.

Dishabituation is a form of recovered or restored behavioral response wherein the reaction towards a known stimulus is enhanced, as opposed to habituation. Initially, it was proposed as an explanation to increased response for a habituated behavior by introducing an external stimulus; however, upon further analysis, some have suggested that a proper analysis of dishabituation should be taken into consideration only when the response is increased by implying the original stimulus.

References

  1. ↑ Bouton, M.E. (2007). Learning and behavior: A contemporary synthesis. MA Sinauer: Sunderland. Archived from the original on 2012-11-27. Retrieved 2011-10-20.
  2. ↑ Cherry, K. "What is habituation". About.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
  3. ↑ Dethier, V. G. (1976). The hungry fly: a physiological study of the behavior associated with feeding. Harvard University Press
  4. ↑ Fennel, C. T. (2011). "Habituation procedures". In E. Hoff (ed.). Research methods in child language: A practical guide (PDF). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
  5. 1 2 3 4 McDiarmid, T.A.; Bernardos, A.C.. (2017). "Habituation is altered in neuropsychiatric disorders—a comprehensive review with recommendations for experimental design and analysis". Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. 1 (1): 1–43. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.05.028. PMID   28579490. S2CID   207094378.
  6. ↑ "habituation". Merriam-webster. Retrieved September 18, 2011.
  7. ↑ World Health Organization. "Lexicon of alcohol and drug terms published by the world health organization". Archived from the original on July 4, 2004. Retrieved September 12, 2011.
  8. ↑ Smoking and health: Report of the advisory committee to the surgeon general of the public health service. No. 1103 (PDF). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare; Public Health Service; Center for Disease Control. 1964.
  9. ↑ "DSM-IV & DSM-IV-TR: Substance Dependence". BehaveNet. Retrieved September 21, 2011.[ dead link ]
  10. ↑ Baker, Timothy B.; Tiffany, Stephen T. (1985). "Morphine tolerance as habituation". Psychological Review. 92 (1): 78–108. doi:10.1037/0033-295x.92.1.78. PMID   3983304.
  11. ↑ Thompson, R.F.; Spencer, W.A. (1966). "Habituation: A model phenomenon for the study of neuronal substrates of behavior" (PDF). Psychological Review. 73 (1): 16–43. doi:10.1037/h0022681. PMID   5324565.
  12. 1 2 Rankin, H. A.; Abrams, T.; Barry, R. J.; Bhatnagar, S.; Clayton, D. F.; Colombo, J.; et al. (2009). "Habituation revisited: An updated and revised description of the behavioral characteristics of habituation". Neurobiology of Learning and Memory. 92 (2): 135–138. doi:10.1016/j.nlm.2008.09.012. PMC   2754195 . PMID   18854219.
  13. ↑ Gagliano, Monica; Renton, Michael; Depczynski, Martial; Mancuso, Stefano (2014-05-01). "Experience teaches plants to learn faster and forget slower in environments where it matters". Oecologia. 175 (1): 63–72. Bibcode:2014Oecol.175...63G. doi:10.1007/s00442-013-2873-7. ISSN   0029-8549. PMID   24390479. S2CID   5038227.
  14. ↑ Zuo, Fan, et al. "Habituation based synaptic plasticity and organismic learning in a quantum perovskite." Nature communications 8.1 (2017): 240.
  15. 1 2 Wood, D.C. (1988). "Habituation in Stentor produced by mechanoreceptor channel modification". Journal of Neuroscience. 8 (7): 2254–2258. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.08-07-02254.1988 . PMC   6569508 . PMID   3249223.
  16. ↑ Mutschler, Isabella; B. Wieckhorst; O. Speck; A. Schulze-Bonhage; J. Hennig; E.Seifritz; T.Ball (November 2010). "Time Scales of Auditory Habituation in the Amygdala and Cerebral Cortex" (PDF). Cerebral Cortex. 20 (11): 2531–2539. doi:10.1093/cercor/bhq001. PMID   20118185.
  17. ↑ Breiter, Hans; N. Etcoff; P.Whalen; W. Kennedy; S.Rauch; R. Buckner; M. Srauss; S. Hyman; B.Rosen (November 1996). "Response and Habituation of the Human Amygdala during Visual Processing of Facial Expression". Neuron. 17 (5): 875–887. doi: 10.1016/s0896-6273(00)80219-6 . PMID   8938120. S2CID   17284478.
  18. ↑ Blackford, Jennifer; A. Allen; R. Cowan; S. Avery (January 2012). "Amygdala and hippocampus fail to habituate to faces in individuals with an inhibited temperament". Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. 8 (2): 143–150. doi:10.1093/scan/nsr078. PMC   3575717 . PMID   22260816.
  19. ↑ George, W., and Elizabeth G. Peckham. "Some observations on the mental powers of spiders." Journal of Morphology 1.2 (1887): 383-419.
  20. 1 2 Christoffersen, G. R. J. "Habituation: events in the history of its characterization and linkage to synaptic depression. A new proposed kinetic criterion for its identification." Progress in neurobiology 53.1 (1997): 45-66.
  21. 1 2 Barany, R. Weitere Untersuchungen fiber den vom Vestibularapparat des Ohres reflektorisch ausgel6sten rlaythmischen Nystagmus und seine Begleiterscheinungen. Mschr. Ohrenheilk, 41.
  22. ↑ Fisher, Lewis. "Vertigo: Its causes and methods of diagnosis." The American Journal of Surgery 31.3 (1917): 67-70.
  23. ↑ Mowrer, O. H. (1934) The modification of vestibular nystagmus by means of repeated elicitation. Camp. Psychol. Monogr. IX, 1-48.
  24. ↑ McConnell, J (2013). The Biochemistry of Memory." Chemistry of Learning: Invertebrate Research. Springer. p. 311.
  25. 1 2 Sokolov, Y.N. (1963). "Sokolov, Y. N. (1963). Higher nervous functions: The orienting reflex. Annual". Annual Review of Physiology. 25: 545–580. doi:10.1146/annurev.ph.25.030163.002553. PMID   13977960.
  26. 1 2 Groves, P.M.; Thompson, R. F. (1970). "Habituation: A dual-process theory" (PDF). Psychological Review. 77 (5): 419–450. doi:10.1037/h0029810. PMID   4319167.
  27. ↑ Wagner, A. R. (2014). SOP: A model of automatic memory processing in animal behavior. In Information processing in animals (pp. 15-58). Psychology Press.
  28. ↑ Jennings, H. S. (1906). Behavior of the lower organisms. New York: Columbia University Press.
  29. ↑ Pinsker, Harold; Kupfermann, Irving; Castellucci, Vincent; Kandel, Eric (1970). "Habituation and Dishabituation of the Gill-Withdrawal Reflex in Aplysia". Science. 167 (3926): 1740–1742. Bibcode:1970Sci...167.1740P. doi:10.1126/science.167.3926.1740. JSTOR   1728291. PMID   5416541. S2CID   14165799.
  30. ↑ Pellegrino, R.; Sinding, C.; Wijk, R.A. de; Hummel, T. (2017). "Habituation and adaptation to odors in humans". Physiology & Behavior. 177: 13–19. doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2017.04.006. PMID   28408237. S2CID   4022793.
  31. ↑ Breed, M.D. "Habituation". Animal Behavior Online. Retrieved September 18, 2011.
  32. ↑ Magle, S.; Zhu, J.; Crooks, K.R. (2005). "Behavioral responses to repeated human intrusions by black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys Ludovicianus)". Journal of Mammalogy. 86 (3): 524–530. doi: 10.1644/1545-1542(2005)86[524:brtrhi]2.0.co;2 . JSTOR   4094320.
  33. ↑ Deecke, V. B.; Slater, P. J. B.; Ford, J. K. B. (2002). "Selective habituation shapes acoustic predatory recognition in harbour seals". Nature. 420 (6912): 171–173. Bibcode:2002Natur.420..171D. doi:10.1038/nature01030. PMID   12432391. S2CID   4405646.
  34. ↑ Bee, M.A.; Gerhardt, H. C. (2001). "Habituation as a mechanism of reduced aggression between neighboring territorial male bullfrogs (rana catesbeiana)". Journal of Comparative Psychology. 115 (1): 68–82. doi:10.1037/0735-7036.115.1.68. PMID   11334221.
  35. ↑ Raynor, H. A.; Epstein, L. H. (2001). "Dietary variety, energy regulation, and obesity". Psychological Bulletin. 127 (3): 325–341. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.127.3.325. PMID   11393299. S2CID   23878288.
  36. ↑ Temple, J.L.; Giacomelli, A. M.; Roemmich, J. N.; Epstein, L. H. (January 2008). "Dietary variety impairs habituation in children". Health Psychology. 27 (1): S10–S19. doi:10.1037/0278-6133.27.1.S10. PMC   2291292 . PMID   18248101.
  37. ↑ Mazur, J. E. (2012). Learning & Behavior (7/E). Pearson. 41–45.
  38. ↑ Green, S.A., Hernandez, L., Tottenham, N., Krasileva, K., Bookheimer, S.Y., Dapretto, M., 2015. Neurobiology of Sensory Overresponsivity in Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorders. JAMA psychiatry 72, 778–86. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2015.0737
  39. ↑ Teo, C., Rasco, L., Al-Mefty, K., Skinner, R.D., Boop, F.A., Garcia-Rill, E., 1997. Decreased habituation of midlatency auditory evoked responses in Parkinson's disease. Mov. Disord. 12, 655–664. doi:10.1002/mds.870120506
  40. ↑ Agostino, R., Berardelli, A., Cruccu, G., Pauletti, G., Stocchi, F., Manfredi, M., 1988. Correlation between facial involuntary movements and abnormalities of blink and corneal reflexes in Huntington's chorea. Mov. Disord. 3, 281–289. doi:10.1002/mds.870030401
  41. ↑ Ferguson, I.T., Lenman, J.A., Johnston, B.B., 1978. Habituation of the orbicularis oculi reflex in dementia and dyskinetic states. J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry 41, 824–8.
  42. ↑ Schneider, A., Leigh, M.J., Adams, P., Nanakul, R., Chechi, T., Olichney, J., Hagerman, R., Hessl, D., 2013. Electrocortical changes associated with minocycline treatment in fragile X syndrome. J. Psychopharmacol. 27, 956–63. doi:10.1177/0269881113494105
  43. ↑ Hwang, G.C., Tillberg, C.S., Scahill, L., 2012. Habit reversal training for children with tourette syndrome: update and review. J. Child Adolesc. Psychiatr. Nurs. 25, 178–83. doi:10.1111/jcap.12002
  44. ↑ Pusey, A.; Murray, C.; Wallauer, W.; Wilson, M.; Wroblewski, E.; Goodall, J. (2008). "Severe aggression among female pan troglodytes schweinfurthii at Gombe National Park, Tanzania". International Journal of Primatology. 29 (4): 949–973. doi:10.1007/s10764-008-9281-6. S2CID   24445379.
  45. ↑ Wilson, M. L.; Wallauer, W. R.; Pusey, A. E. (2004). "New cases of intergroup violence among chimpanzees in Gombe National Park, Tanzania". International Journal of Primatology. 2 (3): 523–549. doi:10.1023/B:IJOP.0000023574.38219.92. S2CID   9354530.
  46. ↑ Turk-Browne, N. B.; Scholl, B. J.; Chun, M. M. (2008). "Babies and brains: Habituation in infant cognition and functional neuroimaging" (PDF). Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. 2: 1–11. doi: 10.3389/neuro.09.016.2008 . PMC   2605404 . PMID   19104669.
  47. ↑ Kaufman, J.; Needham, A. (1999). "Objective spatial coding by 6.5-month-old infants in a visual dishabituation task". Developmental Science. 2 (4): 432–441. doi:10.1111/1467-7687.00087. S2CID   39671805.
  48. ↑ Oakes L. M. (2010). Using Habituation of Looking Time to Assess Mental Processes in Infancy. Journal of cognition and development: official journal of the Cognitive Development Society, 11(3), 255–268. doi:10.1080/15248371003699977

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.