PSYCH 3FA3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Local Field Potential, Motor Skill, Bicuculline
Document Summary
The first question is whether learning is accompanied by functional synaptic modifications of m1 circuitry. Secondly, if natural learning uses the same mechanism as long-term potentiation. The hypothesis of this experiment is that the plasticity of m1 connections create circuits needed to acquire or perform new motor behaviours. The capacity for ltp increase is reduced after learning, so strengthening of the horizontal connections may involve ltp like mechanisms. Rats were trained to reach through a hole in a food box with a single forepaw in order to retrieve small food pellets using a grasping motion. The training and practice period lasted three to five days, with all rats achieving a performance of about 1. 5 pellet retrievals per minute. The experiment consisted of a group of 14 (paired controls) and another group of 12 na ve rats (unpaired controls) that served as controls.
