Lateralized loss of biting attack-patterned reflexes following induction of contralateral sensory neglect in the cat: a possible role for the striatum in centrally elicited aggressive behaviour.

A syndrome of "contralateral sensory neglect' was induced by hypothalamic knife cuts in 6 of 10 cats in which quiet biting attack behaviour could be elicited by lateral hypothalamic stimulation. The contralateral sensory neglect in the 6 affected cats was accompanied by a loss on the "neglected' side of the body of the patterned reflexes which mediate positioning of the head to bite and the jaw-opening component of biting. As a result, when these cats were stimulated in the lateral hypothalamus, although they continued to approach and even make tactile contact with the rat, they generally failed to bite it. Analysis of the histological and behavioural data suggested that damage to the nigrostriatal and/or striato/pallidonigral fibre systems provided the likely basis for both the induction of the contralateral sensory neglect and the lateralized patterned reflex loss. It was suggested, with respect to these specific patterned reflex components of the attack, that an important contribution may be made by the striatum.