Changes of visual pattern discrimination in adult cats after removal of an aspecific area of cerebral cortex

¹ Laboratorio di Fisiologia, Universitá di Milano, Milano, Italy

In the curarized cat, a well-defined, aspecific trigger area (TA) of the cortex, situated in front of the visual cortex caudally to the crux, originated a widespread, 10/sec afterdischarge following stimulation of the lateral geniculate body of the same side. Removal of the TA significantly impaired the visual pattern discrimination of previously trained adult cats, increasing their time of response. Untrained cats were not susceptible to training when the TA had been destroyed on both sides. Removal of an equivalent visual area did not alter visual pattern discrimination. The stimulation of the lateral geniculate body of the same side did not elicit the 10/sec afterdischarge if the TA had been completely destroyed. It is concluded that the TA might be concerned with higher sensory-motor integrative activity.

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