Amphetamine-Induced Recovery of Visual Cliff Performance After Bilateral Visual Cortex Ablation in Cats: Measurements of Depth Perception Thresholds

After bilateral visual cortex ablation, cats exhibit a loss of depth perception as measured on a visual cliff, which recovers following administration of d -amphetamine. In this Study, 3 amphetamine-treated cats with visual cortex ablations showed a rapid and enduring recovery, with 2 of these anima...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Behavioral neuroscience 1989-06, Vol.103 (3), p.574-584
Main Authors: Hovda, David A, Sutton, Richard L, Feeney, Dennis M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amphetamine - pharmacology
Amphetamines
Animal
Animals
Behavioral psychophysiology
Biological and medical sciences
Cats
Depth Perception
Depth Perception - drug effects
Discrimination Learning - drug effects
Dominance, Cerebral - drug effects
Drugs
Eyes & eyesight
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Geniculate Bodies - drug effects
Haloperidol - pharmacology
Male
Nerve Degeneration - drug effects
Nerve Regeneration - drug effects
Neurotransmission and behavior
Orientation - drug effects
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Psychomotor Performance - drug effects
Sensory Thresholds - drug effects
Visual Cortex
Visual Cortex - drug effects
Visual Pathways - drug effects
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Summary:After bilateral visual cortex ablation, cats exhibit a loss of depth perception as measured on a visual cliff, which recovers following administration of d -amphetamine. In this Study, 3 amphetamine-treated cats with visual cortex ablations showed a rapid and enduring recovery, with 2 of these animals obtaining levels of performance seen only with binocular vision, suggesting a restoration of binocular depth perception. Cats with asymmetrical lesions showed only a transient improvement during amphetamine treatment, and some animals not displaying autonomic signs of amphetamine intoxication did not improve. Saline-treated cats showed no signs of improvement, and the effect of amphetamine was blocked by the catecholaminergic antagonist haloperidol. These results indicate that amphetamine can induce an enduring recovery from a behavioral deficit after brain injury, which if left untreated would not spontaneously recover.
ISSN:0735-7044
1939-0084
DOI:10.1037/0735-7044.103.3.574