Visual intensity discrimination in cats after serial tectal and cortical lesions.

Abstract

The retention of a visual intensity (flux) discrimination after serial bilateral ablations of the lateral and posterolateral gyri in the cerebral cortex and of the superior colliculi was tested in cats. The effects depended, in part, on the order of the ablations. Relearning the discrimination after the cortical ablation, whether or not it follows the tectal lesion, takes 1-2 times the original number of trials. The collicular lesion has no effect on retention of the intensity discrimination unless it is preceded by the cortical lesion, in which case the learning deficit is more severe than following the cortical lesion.