The dynamics of neuronal,autonomic and movement parameters in animals during the reproduction of a learned habit

Data by the authors, as well as from other laboratories, show that the intertrial responses correlated with accuracy of avoidance or feeding behaviour. Moreover our previously data demonstrated the definite changes of neuronal activity, heart rate and respiration during intertrial responses. In this study we investigated the time-course of intertrial response appearance, the pattern of neurophysiological parameters during intertrial periods, and the types of intertrial responses. Experiment 1 showed that different environmental stimuli influenced the level of intertrial responses and successfulness of the avoidance learning. In experiment 2, in which learning and extinction procedures were presented in rabbit passive-avoidance conditioning, two types of intertrial responses were observed; the first type repeated the pain reinforcement, the second one imitated the conditioned reaction of neuronal activity, heart rate, respiration, and moving. These investigations suggest that the processes of intertrial eliciting of avoidance effector programs may be one of the mechanisms of fixation in memory and play an important role in acquisition of more effective results.