Whishaw Ian Q
Canadian Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, Lethbridge, Alta., Canada.
Behav Brain Res. 2004 Dec 6;155(2):177-84. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2004.04.013.
In the face of contradictory findings on the role of visual cortex contributions to spatial behavior, the present study evaluated the ability of rats with primary visual cortex (Area 17) lesions to learn spatial problems in a swimming pool. Because the solution to any spatial learning problem consists of acquiring at least two primary elements of a task, task procedures and spatial learning, the study, in addition to assessing spatial ability on a place task, used two training/testing methods to identify the nature of the spatial impairment associated with visual cortex lesions. Non-spatial training consisted of learning to find a platform in the dark and spatial training consisted of a series of matching-to-place problems. The results confirmed that although rats with visual cortex lesions were impaired on place learning, the deficit was partially ameliorated by non-spatial training given following the lesion, and completely ameliorated by non-spatial training given before the lesion. Nevertheless, all visual cortex groups failed to show a quadrant preference on a probe trial and displayed a profound impairment in matching-to-place learning. This definitive demonstration that appropriate testing methods can reveal a failure in spatial behavior following visual cortex lesions is consistent with the idea that primary visual cortex is required in spatial navigation.
面对关于视觉皮层对空间行为贡献的相互矛盾的研究结果，本研究评估了初级视觉皮层（17区）损伤的大鼠在游泳池中学习空间问题的能力。由于任何空间学习问题的解决都包括获取任务的至少两个主要元素，即任务程序和空间学习，因此该研究除了在位置任务上评估空间能力外，还使用了两种训练/测试方法来确定与视觉皮层损伤相关的空间损伤的性质。非空间训练包括在黑暗中学习找到一个平台，空间训练包括一系列位置匹配问题。结果证实，虽然视觉皮层损伤的大鼠在位置学习上受损，但损伤后进行的非空间训练可部分改善这种缺陷，而损伤前进行的非空间训练可完全改善这种缺陷。然而，所有视觉皮层组在探测试验中都未表现出象限偏好，并且在位置匹配学习中表现出严重损伤。这一确凿的证据表明，适当的测试方法可以揭示视觉皮层损伤后空间行为的失败，这与初级视觉皮层在空间导航中是必需的这一观点是一致的。
