The mechanism of vision. X. Postoperative disturbances of habits based on detail vision in the rat after lesions in the cerebral visual areas.

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Abstract
Rats were trained to a differential reaction using an erect equilateral triangle as the positive stimulus and an inverted triangle as the negative. Preliminary retention tests were made 14 days later followed by operations involving lesions in the visual cortex. Postoperative retention tests were made 14 days after the operation, and the animals were retrained with the original visual stimuli. Complete destruction of both striate areas permanently abolishes detailed vision but there was no indication of a visual associative area apart from the area striata. Visual memory is not conditioned by any other part of the cortex than the projection field for the temporal retina but lesions in this projection field are liable to disturb visual habit severely; yet perfect postoperative performance may be obtained if part of the cortex of either the superior or inferior temporal retina in one hemisphere is intact. Interruption of optic radiations causes similar disturbances in function as do lesions in the striate area or adjacent "associative" fields.