Kk. Rudolph et T. Pasternak, LESIONS IN CAT LATERAL SUPRASYLVIAN CORTEX AFFECT THE PERCEPTION OF COMPLEX MOTION, Cerebral cortex, 6(6), 1996, pp. 814-822
We examined the effects of bilateral ibotenic acid lesions of cat late
ral suprasylvian (LS) cortex on motion perception, Cats were tested on
tasks requiring integration of local directional signals, precise jud
gements of direction and extraction of structure from motion. All anim
als showed permanent deficits in integrating local motion signals, The
se deficits were most pronounced in the presence of directional noise
and at larger spatial displacements. In addition, LS lesions produced
a 2-fold loss in the accuracy of direction discrimination and large de
ficits in the perception of structure-from motion. All of these losses
were most severe during the first few weeks of testing following the
lesion. These findings demonstrate that LS cortex plays an important r
ole in the processing of stimuli requiring integration of motion infor
mation and limits the spatial scale over which such integration can pr
oceed. Partial improvements in performance with time and/or training m
ay be indicative of post-operative plastic changes in neurons outside
of LS cortex.