Article
Facilitated Acquisition of Standard but not Long Delay Classical Eyeblink Conditioning in Behaviorally Inhibited Adolescents
Behavioural Brain Research
(2015)
Abstract
Adolescence is a key age in the development of anxiety disorders. The present study assessed the relationship between behavioral inhibition, a risk factor for anxiety typified by avoidance, and acquisition of the classically conditioned eyeblink response. 168 healthy high school students (mean age 15.7 years, 54% female) were given a battery of self-report measures including the Adult Measure of Behavioural Inhibition (AMBI). The study compared acquisition of three experimental training conditions. Two groups were given paired CS–US training: standard delay of 500-ms or long delay of 1000-ms with CS overlapping and co-terminating with a 50-ms airpuff US. A third group received unpaired training of 1000-ms CS and 50-ms airpuff US. Inhibited individuals showed greater acquisition of the conditioned eyeblink response in the 500-ms CS condition, but not in the paired 1000-ms condition. No differences in spontaneous blinks or reactivity to the stimulus were evident in the 1000-ms unpaired CS condition. Results support a relationship between associative learning and anxiety vulnerability that may be mediated by cerebellar functioning in inhibited individuals.
Keywords
- Anxiety vulnerability,
- Behavioral inhibition,
- Delay eyeblink conditioning,
- Long delay eyeblink conditioning,
- Adolescent anxiety
Disciplines
Publication Date
February 1, 2015
DOI
10.1016/j.bbr.2014.10.027
Citation Information
Meghan Caulfield, Kirsten M. Vanmeenen and Richard J. Servatius. "Facilitated Acquisition of Standard but not Long Delay Classical Eyeblink Conditioning in Behaviorally Inhibited Adolescents" Behavioural Brain Research Vol. 278 (2015) p. 476 - 481 ISSN: 0166-4328 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/meghan-caulfield/6/