A comparison of the effects of fornix transection and sulcus principalis ablation upon spatial learning by monkeys. 1989

D Gaffan, and S Harrison
Department of Experimental Psychology, Oxford University, U.K.

In each of three experiments with Cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis), there was a group of normal control animals, a group with bilateral cortical ablations in the principal sulcus, and a group with fornix transection. In Expt. 1, half of each group learned problems in which the position of a pair of visual stimuli, to the monkey's left or right, indicated which of the visual stimuli was the correct (rewarded) one. The other animals learned problems in which visual stimuli indicated, irrespective of their own spatial position, whether reward was to be found on the monkey's left or on the right. The animals with fornix transection were impaired in both tasks. The animals with sulcus principalis ablation were also impaired in both tasks. The impairment caused by fornix transection was more severe than that caused by sulcus principalis ablation. Within each of the two operated groups, the degree of impairment in the two tasks was equal, when assessed in proportion to the difficulty of each task for control animals. Expt. 2 showed that neither of the operated groups was impaired in visual discrimination learning with spatial position irrelevant. Expt. 3 tested spatial discrimination learning (acquisition and reversal of a left-right discrimination) with irrelevant visual cues. Here the fornix-transected group was impaired but the group with sulcus principalis ablations was normal. It is suggested, on the basis of these findings and previous results, that fornix transection produces a general deficit in remembering the spatial arrangement of whole scenes, while sulcus principalis ablation produces a deficit in high-order integration involving spatial information.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008252 Macaca fascicularis A species of the genus MACACA which typically lives near the coast in tidal creeks and mangrove swamps primarily on the islands of the Malay peninsula. Burmese Long-Tailed Macaque,Crab-Eating Monkey,Cynomolgus Monkey,M. f. aurea,M. fascicularis,Macaca fascicularis aurea,Monkey, Crab-Eating,Monkey, Cynomolgus,Crab-Eating Macaque,Burmese Long Tailed Macaque,Crab Eating Macaque,Crab Eating Monkey,Crab-Eating Macaques,Crab-Eating Monkeys,Cynomolgus Monkeys,Long-Tailed Macaque, Burmese,Macaque, Burmese Long-Tailed,Macaque, Crab-Eating,Monkey, Crab Eating
D008297 Male Males
D009434 Neural Pathways Neural tracts connecting one part of the nervous system with another. Neural Interconnections,Interconnection, Neural,Interconnections, Neural,Neural Interconnection,Neural Pathway,Pathway, Neural,Pathways, Neural
D009949 Orientation Awareness of oneself in relation to time, place and person. Cognitive Orientation,Mental Orientation,Psychological Orientation,Cognitive Orientations,Mental Orientations,Orientation, Cognitive,Orientation, Mental,Orientation, Psychological,Orientations,Orientations, Cognitive,Orientations, Mental,Orientations, Psychological,Psychological Orientations
D011340 Problem Solving A learning situation involving more than one alternative from which a selection is made in order to attain a specific goal.
D011597 Psychomotor Performance The coordination of a sensory or ideational (cognitive) process and a motor activity. Perceptual Motor Performance,Sensory Motor Performance,Visual Motor Coordination,Coordination, Visual Motor,Coordinations, Visual Motor,Motor Coordination, Visual,Motor Coordinations, Visual,Motor Performance, Perceptual,Motor Performance, Sensory,Motor Performances, Perceptual,Motor Performances, Sensory,Perceptual Motor Performances,Performance, Perceptual Motor,Performance, Psychomotor,Performance, Sensory Motor,Performances, Perceptual Motor,Performances, Psychomotor,Performances, Sensory Motor,Psychomotor Performances,Sensory Motor Performances,Visual Motor Coordinations
D001931 Brain Mapping Imaging techniques used to colocalize sites of brain functions or physiological activity with brain structures. Brain Electrical Activity Mapping,Functional Cerebral Localization,Topographic Brain Mapping,Brain Mapping, Topographic,Functional Cerebral Localizations,Mapping, Brain,Mapping, Topographic Brain
D003118 Color Perception Mental processing of chromatic signals (COLOR VISION) from the eye by the VISUAL CORTEX where they are converted into symbolic representations. Color perception involves numerous neurons, and is influenced not only by the distribution of wavelengths from the viewed object, but also by its background color and brightness contrast at its boundary. Color Perceptions,Perception, Color,Perceptions, Color
D003213 Conditioning, Psychological Simple form of learning involving the formation, strengthening, or weakening of an association between a stimulus and a response. Conditioning, Psychology,Psychological Conditioning,Social Learning Theory,Social Learning Theories,Theory, Social Learning
D004193 Discrimination Learning Learning that is manifested in the ability to respond differentially to various stimuli. Discriminative Learning,Discrimination Learnings,Discriminative Learnings,Learning, Discrimination,Learning, Discriminative

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