Effect of posterior thalamic lesions on retention of a brightness discrimination motivated by thirst.

Abstract
An earlier study disclosed that bilateral damage to the nucleus posterior thalami failed to interfere with retention of a visual CR [conditioned response] motivated by thirst. In the present study, significant deficits in retention were obtained from similarly placed lesions on retention of a black-white discrimination habit formed under thirst motivation. The rank-order correlation between the extent of damage to the nucleus posterior and the individual savings score was .73.