EFFECTS OF FRONTAL LOBE LESIONS ON TEMPORALLY ORGANIZED BEHAVIOR IN MONKEYS

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Abstract
The effects of removal of the frontal association areas were studied in 4 monkeys (Cercocebus torquatus) with 3 types of behavioral tests: a temporal discrimination maze; a shuttle box which required postponement of response for a fixed time; and the "delayed response" situation. The 3 tests were alike in that differential cues were absent from the external situation, but different with respect to the degree of influence exercised by repeated reinforcement in the establishment of their corresponding habits. Neither unilateral nor bilateral lesions impaired performance on the first 2 tests whereas the capacity to respond correctly in the 3d was permanently lost by the same subjects. The frontal lobes are not equally essential to all types of centrally controlled behavior; "immediate memory" is qualified in terms of "associative" and "non-trial-and-error" learning and in terms of possible discrete neural mechanisms underlying the 2 kinds of behavior.