RIGHT AUDITORY-CORTEX LESION IN MONGOLIAN GERBILS IMPAIRS DISCRIMINATION OF RISING AND FALLING FREQUENCY-MODULATED TONES

Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus) were trained in a shuttle bo x to discriminate the direction in frequency-modulated tones (FM). Whe reas control animals easily acquired FM discrimination, animals with a uditory cortex lesion on the right side showed considerable difficulti es in learning this task. The discrimination performance of gerbils wi th left auditory cortex lesion, however, was not different from contro ls. This study, suggesting that the right auditory cortex plays a domi nant role in FM discrimination learning in gerbils, describes a useful animal model for investigation of the basic mechanisms underlying hem ispheric asymmetries in auditory perception. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved