Recovery of distal skills after neonatal lesion of the sensorimotor cortex in the cat.

The cytoarchitectonic cortical areas containing the cells of origin of the pyramidal tract were unilaterally removed from kittens during the first postnatal month. After 5 months, the distal skills of these operated animals were analyzed using a food retrieving task. After an initial deficit, cats achieved the same performance in grasping and wrist movement with the limb contralateral to the lesion as with the opposite limb. The duration of the deficit was dependent on age at the time of lesion. Recovery of distal skills after neonatal lesion is discussed with regard to the low degree of maturity of the corticospinal tract in newborn cat.