Eye-closure procedure and the visual deficit after unilateral ablation of the occipital lobe in the rabbit.

In the rabbit, unilateral ablation of the occipital lobe leads to a severe impairment of striated pattern discrimination with the eye contralateral to the lesion. In the present report it is studied whether the acute reduction of the overall visual field, due to closure of the eye contralateral to the intact hemisphere shortly before each testing session, leads to results which underestimate the animal's capability to discriminate striated patterns via the ipsilateral fibres. The experiment described in the present report suggests that this is not the case and that there is a genuine visual discrimination deficit after unilateral ablation of the visual cortex.