General Findings

Abstract

Throughout this research project, it has not been our intention to tease out the functions of discrete parts of the brain in learning. Rather, we have been primarily concerned with identifying ensembles of brain structures that emerge in importance for the acquisition of particular kinds of problem-solving tasks. In this respect, we agree with Luria (1966) that localizing complex mental functions (e.g., problem-solving) to a circumscribed area of the brain is unrealistic and that it is far better to envisage such functions as products of the activity of a “constellation” of interconnected nuclei situated at various levels of the central nervous system. Whereas Luria attempted to discover these constellations by studying the cognitive capacities of patients with damage to different parts of the brain, we chose to expose them by testing the learning ability of young rats with lesions to different brain sites.