The ability of normal rats and rats with hemisectioned spinal cords to discriminate differences in linear distance.

Abstract

43 normal rats and 54 rats with lesions in various parts of the spinal cord at the level of the first cervical process were trained to discriminate differences in linear distance. The operated animals learned the problem as readily as did the normals. They also had thresholds as low as did the normal rats. These results cast doubt on the conclusions of Lashley and Ball and Ingebritson that severing the tracts in the dorsal half of the spinal cord prevents the rat from utilizing kinesthetic cues in the learning and retention of the maze. They point to the presence of tracts in the cord, located elsewhere than in the dorsal half, which subserve the function of kinesthesis.