One of the most exciting issues confronting contemporary neuroscientists concerns the identification and elucidation of brain mechanisms underlying learning and memory. For example, recent studies of classical (Pavlovian) conditioning have indicated that different brain regions mediate the development of different kinds of conditioned responses. For example, autonomic (heart rate) and somatomotor (eyeblink, leg flexion) conditioning are all mediated through very different brain structures. Dr. Gibbs is employing an unique appetitive conditioning procedure, which will complement more than three decades of aversive conditioning studies. He is examining whether similar brain mechanisms mediate the development of somatomotor and/or autonomic conditioning where the unconditional stimulus is pleasurable -- the intraoral delivery of a small amount of water. Specifically, Dr. Gibbs will use this established conditioning procedure to determine (a) whether the cerebellum (a structure that is essentially concerned with coordinated movements and which appears to be essential for aversive somatomotor learning) is involved in the development of an appetitive, swallowing response, and (b) whether other brain structures (primarily in the forebrain) also participate in the development of this learned response.
