DELAYED RESPONSE PERFORMANCE OF MONKEYS WITH FRONTAL REMOVALS AFTER EXCITANT AND SEDATIVE DRUGS

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Abstract
Four monkeys (Macaca mulatta) with removals of frontal granular cortex (2 with additional ablations in posterior cortex) were tested on delayed response while under the influence of sedative or excitant drugs (sodium pentobarbital and amphetamine sulfate). Control injns.of saline were also made. There were no significant differences in level of achievement under the various experimental conditions, although both drugs reduced activity. Neither had differential effects on the frontal as opposed to frontal-posterior preparations. The discrepancy between these results and those reported previously is interpreted in terms of the length of time which had elapsed since operations. It is proposed that sedatives may hasten adaptation to the delayed response situation, an adjustment which would normally take place in the course of time, but that they have no effect on the associative process which must occur anew on each trial.
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