STUDY OF THE FUNCTIONAL-ROLE OF THE MOTOR CORTEX IN ESTABLISHING OF ESCAPE REACTIONS IN DOGS

The model of escape conditioning similar to classical (pavlovian) was proposed. During shock appllication to the hing limb (a conditioned st imulus) the ipsilateral foreleg flexion was elicited by a stimulation of the motor cortex (an unconditioned stimulus); both stimuli were tur ned off in the course of the forepaw lifting. Such uniform pairings re sulted in elaboration of a reaction of the foreleg flexion in response to the shock. Prolonging the shock by 3 s after the cortical stimulat ion led to a rapid extinction of the acquired response. So a possibili ty to instrunentalize movements elicited by stimulation of the motor c ortex (MI) was proved. This is in argument in favour of an assumption that the established <<instrumental>> connection (drive - motor struct ures) can be addressed directly to the motor cortex.