Abstract
Rats with parietal, temporal, or frontopolar cortex lesions and nonoperated controls were trained on a complex visual pattern discrimination. The rats with temporal association cortex damage committed significantly more errors than those with parietal association cortex damage and nonoperated controls. These results complement earlier findings of a dissociation between the effects of temporal and parietal association cortex lesions.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Boyd, M. G., & Thomas, R. K. The effects of posterior association cortex lesions in rats: Mazes, pattern discrimination, and reversal learning. Physiological Psychology, 1977, 5, 455–461.
Diamond, I. T., & Hall, W. C. Evolution of neocortex. Science, 1969,164,251–262.
Gehring, R. E. Basic behavioral statistics. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1978.
Gellerman, L. W. Chance orders of alternating stimuli in visual discrimination experiments. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 1933, 42, 206–208.
Hughes, H. C. Anatomical and neurobehavioral investigations concerning the thalamo-cortical organization of the rat’s visual system. Journal of Comparative Neurology, 1977,175, 311–336.
Killackey, H., & Diamond, I. T. Visual attention in the tree shrew: An ablation study of the striate and extrastriate visual cortex. Science, 1971, 171, 696–699.
Killackey, H., Diamond, I. T., Hall, W. C., & Hudgins, G. An ablation study of the tecto-pulvinar-extrastriate system in the squirrel and tree shrew. Federation Proceedings, 1968, 27, 517.
Killackey, H., Snyder, M., & Diamond, I. T. Functions of striate and temporal cortex in the tree shrew. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 1971, 74, 1–29.
Killackey, H., Wilson, M., & Diamond, I. T. Further studies of the striate and extrastriate visual cortex in the tree shrew. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 1972, 81, 45–63.
Lashley, K. S. Thalamo-cortical connections of the rat’s brain. Journal of Comparative Neurology, 1941, 75, 67 -121.
McDaniel, W. F., McDaniel, S. E., & Thomas, R. K. Thalamo-cortical projections to the temporal and parietal association cortices in the rat. Neuroscience Letters, 1978, 7, 121–125.
McDaniel, W. F., & Thomas, R. K. Temporal and parietal association cortex lesions and spatial and black-white reversal learning in the rat. Physiological Psychology, 1978, 6, 300–305.
Montero, V. M., Bravo, H., & FernÁndez, V. Striate-peristriate cortico-cortical connections in the albino and grey rat. Brain Research, 1973, 53, 202–207.
Mountcastle, V. B. The world around us: Neural command functions for selective attention. Neuroscience Research Program Bulletin, 1976, 14 Supplement/April, 1–47.
Robertson, R. T. Thalamic projections to visually responsive regions of parietal cortex. Brain Research Bulletin, 1976, 1, 459–469.
Robertson, R. T., Mayers, K. S., Teyler, T. J., Bettinger, L. A., Birch, H., Davis, J. L., Phillips, D. S., & Thompson, R. F. Unit activity in posterior association cortex of the cat. Journal of Neurophysiology, 1975, 38, 780–794.
Snyder, M., & Diamond, I. T. The organization and function of the visual cortex in the tree shrew. Brain, Behavior and Evolution, 1968, 1, 244–288.
Snyder, M., Hall, W. C., & Diamond, I. T. Vision in the tree shrew (Tupaia glis) after removal of striate cortex. Psychonomic Science, 1966, 6, 243–244.
Thomas, R. K., & Peacock, L. J. A method of measuring brain lesions. Psychonomic Science, 1965, 3,184.
Thomas, R. K., & Weir, V. K. The effects of lesions in the frontal or posterior association cortex of rats on Maze III. Physiological Psychology, 1975, 3, 210–214.
Weir, V. K., & Thomas, R. K. Failure to find spatial reversal deficits following medial frontal lesions. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 1975, 5, 465–468.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This study was supported in part by a Georgia College Faculty Research Grant, Grant 8289 from the Penrose Fund of the American Philosophical Society, and funds from the Georgia College Foundation and Alumni Association to the first author. It is a pleasure to thank Dr. Roger K. Thomas and Ms. Kar Burns of the Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, for assistance with the histology.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
McDaniel, W.F., Wildman, L.D. & Spears, R.H. Posterior association cortex and visual pattern discrimination in the rat. Psychobiology 7, 241–244 (1979). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03326632
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03326632