DISTURBANCE OF FOOD-PROCURING MOVEMENTS AFTER ABLATION OF THE MOTOR OR PREMOTOR AREA OF THE CEREBRAL-CORTEX IN CATS

  • 1 January 1979
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 29  (5) , 906-914
Abstract
Instrumental food-procuring movements were studied in cats before and after unilateral or bilateral ablation of the motor or premotor cortical area. Unilateral impairment of the motor area affects the strength and accuracy of movements of the contralateral foreleg, whereas the ablation of the premotor area leads to a slowing down of movements and breaking of a goal-directed movement into separate components. Bilateral ablation of the motor area irreversibly abolished the instrumental reflex. The ablation of the premotor cortex destroyed the animal''s reaction to the sound signal, but food-procuring movements of the forelegs were disturbed only temporarily. The obtained data are discussed on the basis of the concept that in cats the above cortical areas play different roles in the organization of goal-directed behavior.

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