National Library of Medicine: IGM
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TITLE:
Vagal activity predicts eyeblink conditioning in
human subjects.
AUTHOR:
Tapp W; Servatius R; Hunt J; Powell DA
AUTHOR AFFILIATION:
VA Medical Centre, East Orange, NJ, USA.
SOURCE:
Neuroreport 1997 Mar 24;8(5):1203-7
NLM CIT. ID:
97318131
ABSTRACT:
A group of old (mean age 73 years) and young
(mean age 19.8 years) human subjects received concomitant eyeblink and heart rate
classical conditioning, in which a 1000 Hz tone was the conditioning stimulus and a
corneal airpuff was the unconditioned stimulus. Fewer old than young subjects showed
eyeblink conditioning and age greatly attenuated the magnitude of the brady-cardiac
conditioned heart rate response. The heart rate conditioned response was also
significantly smaller in the subjects who failed to show eyeblink conditioning regardless
of age, suggesting a relationship between parasympathetic cardiac control and somatomotor
learning. The power associated with the respiratory peak in the heart rate spectrum, which
is vagal in origin, was also smaller in subjects that failed to show eyeblink
conditioning, again suggesting a relationship between parasympathetic cardiac activity and
motor learning.
When my office
lease expired at the end of 2004, I decided to turn it into a
"sabbatical" from my private practice. Many years ago, in my
grandfather's 89th year of life, he told me, "John, it is important
to smell the roses while you can still smell them." His life
gave living a very good reputation. It is also true that the
pursuit of that philosophy required my grandfather to to re-open his
assay office/ore market in Wickenburg, Arizona as a 75-year-old because
he had run a little short of retirement money. Thus, if blessed with his
luck and health, I'll be back.. --jjh
