Retention of classically conditioned eyelid responses following acute decerebration.

We show that classically conditioned eyelid responses are retained in albino rabbits following decerebration. The presence of these responses represents retention rather than reacquisition in that they are present in the initial trials following decerebration. This excludes the possibility that the post-decerebration conditioned responses are mediated by pathways different from those involved in the intact animal. These data indicate that the conditioned response pathway, and sites of plasticity, for eyelid conditioning are spared by decerebration and are contained within the brainstem and cerebellum.