Abstract
The effects of two training and two surgical procedures on the recovery of a visual pattern discrimination were compared in rats with visual cortex damage (areas 17,18, and 18a). Normal control subjects and rats with serial or simultaneous visual cortex lesions were first trained on a brightness (black vs. white) discrimination task and then on a pattern (horizontal vs. vertical stripes) discrimination task by either classical or fading procedures. The rats’ performance in the preoperative, interoperative, and postoperative stages of training were compared. Rats with serial lesions showed postoperative savings in the brightness task and relearned the pattern discrimination task when trained by either the fading or the classical method. Serially lesioned subjects presented fewer errors to criterion when trained by the fading procedure than when trained by the classical procedure. Rats with simultaneous lesions showed no savings on the brightness discrimination task and all of the subjects in this group relearned the pattern discrimination task when trained by the fading procedure. Simultaneously lesioned subjects trained to a maximum of 750 trials using the classical method did not relearn the pattern discrimination task, except for one subject. Interaction between the surgical and training variables is discussed.
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The authors would like to thank Fernando Torrealba for his invaluable advice on the surgical and histological work and Luis Robles for his helpful suggestions and comments on the manuscript. This research was supported by the Servicio de Desarrollo Científico, Artístico y de Cooperatión Internacional, Universidad de Chile (Projects B 164-815-F and B 1215-811-3).
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Guic-Robles, E., Venable, N., Acevedo, I. et al. Recovery of visual pattern discrimination by rats without visual cortex when trained by fading procedure. Psychobiology 10, 175–185 (1982). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03332934
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03332934