Classical conditioning after cerebellar lesions in humans.

Explored classical conditioning in human Ss who had lesions in their cerebellar circuitry. Seven patients with damage to cerebellar structures and matched control Ss underwent simple delay tone–airpuff conditioning. Eyelid CR acquisition was severely disrupted in the patient group, whereas autonomic CRs and slow cortical potentials developing between the CS and the unconditioned stimulus/stimuli (UCS) were unaffected. Results are consistent with animal studies and earlier case reports indicating that intact cerebellar structures are necessary for the acquisition of classically conditioned motor responses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)