Learning and Timing of Voluntary Blink Responses Match Eyeblink Conditioning
Abstract Can humans produce well-timed blink responses to a neutral stimulus voluntarily, without receiving any blink-eliciting, unconditional, stimulus? And if they can, to what degree does classical eyeblink conditioning depend on volition? Here we show that voluntary blink responses learned in tw...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2017-06-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-03343-2 |
| _version_ | 1818840781031473152 |
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| author | Anders Rasmussen Dan-Anders Jirenhed |
| author_facet | Anders Rasmussen Dan-Anders Jirenhed |
| author_sort | Anders Rasmussen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Can humans produce well-timed blink responses to a neutral stimulus voluntarily, without receiving any blink-eliciting, unconditional, stimulus? And if they can, to what degree does classical eyeblink conditioning depend on volition? Here we show that voluntary blink responses learned in two paradigms that did not involve any unconditional blink-eliciting stimuli, display timing that is as good, or better than, the timing of blink responses learned in a standard eyeblink conditioning paradigm. The exceptional timing accuracy likely stems from the fact that, in contrast to previous studies, we challenged our participants to blink in a timed manner, and not merely to blink so as to avoid the corneal air puff. These results reveal a remarkable level of voluntary control over a simple movement, and they challenge the view that learning during eyeblink conditioning is necessarily automatic and involuntary. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T04:15:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9f9c673bb8304c7a9d8c27e7de1a885b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T04:15:38Z |
| publishDate | 2017-06-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-9f9c673bb8304c7a9d8c27e7de1a885b2022-12-21T20:36:18ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222017-06-01711710.1038/s41598-017-03343-2Learning and Timing of Voluntary Blink Responses Match Eyeblink ConditioningAnders Rasmussen0Dan-Anders Jirenhed1Department of Experimental Medical Science, Lund University, BMC F10Department of Experimental Medical Science, Lund University, BMC F10Abstract Can humans produce well-timed blink responses to a neutral stimulus voluntarily, without receiving any blink-eliciting, unconditional, stimulus? And if they can, to what degree does classical eyeblink conditioning depend on volition? Here we show that voluntary blink responses learned in two paradigms that did not involve any unconditional blink-eliciting stimuli, display timing that is as good, or better than, the timing of blink responses learned in a standard eyeblink conditioning paradigm. The exceptional timing accuracy likely stems from the fact that, in contrast to previous studies, we challenged our participants to blink in a timed manner, and not merely to blink so as to avoid the corneal air puff. These results reveal a remarkable level of voluntary control over a simple movement, and they challenge the view that learning during eyeblink conditioning is necessarily automatic and involuntary.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-03343-2 |
| spellingShingle | Anders Rasmussen Dan-Anders Jirenhed Learning and Timing of Voluntary Blink Responses Match Eyeblink Conditioning Scientific Reports |
| title | Learning and Timing of Voluntary Blink Responses Match Eyeblink Conditioning |
| title_full | Learning and Timing of Voluntary Blink Responses Match Eyeblink Conditioning |
| title_fullStr | Learning and Timing of Voluntary Blink Responses Match Eyeblink Conditioning |
| title_full_unstemmed | Learning and Timing of Voluntary Blink Responses Match Eyeblink Conditioning |
| title_short | Learning and Timing of Voluntary Blink Responses Match Eyeblink Conditioning |
| title_sort | learning and timing of voluntary blink responses match eyeblink conditioning |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-03343-2 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT andersrasmussen learningandtimingofvoluntaryblinkresponsesmatcheyeblinkconditioning AT danandersjirenhed learningandtimingofvoluntaryblinkresponsesmatcheyeblinkconditioning |