Comparison of caudate nucleus and septal-area lesions on two types of avoidance behavior.

Abstract

Previous studies implicate the caudate nucleus as a subcortical mediating structure for frontal and anterior limbic inhibitory effects. On active and passive avoidance tasks caudate-lesioned cats were significantly deficient in ability to inhibit an instrumental feeding response following shock at the food dish but showed normal acquisition of a shuttle-box avoidance response. Septal-area lesioned cats clearly failed to inhibit the passive avoidance response but, in contrast to the caudate group, showed more rapid acquisition of the active avoidance response than did the normal controls. Findings are related to earlier studies of effects of perigenual lesions on these 2 types of avoidance response, and a possible anatomical basis for the present findings is discussed.

The caudate nucleus and active avoidance

“…It was our contention that in those studies that reported impaired active-avoidance behavior following damage of the caudate nuc1eus, lesions were directed at the postero-ventral portions of the structure or were so large that they seriously infringed on these areas. Localized lesions directed at the antero-dorsal portions of the caudate nucleus do not typically result in this type of impairment, and the studies cited by Kirkby bear tbis out (Fox, Kimble, & Lickey, 1964;Albert & Bignami, 1968;Winocur & Mills, 1969). On the other hand, Thompson and his collaborators (1958Thompson and his collaborators ( , 1959Thompson and his collaborators ( , 1963, Green, Beatty, &Schwartzbaum (1967), andRomanovskaya (1957), who are cited as having reported deficits in conditioned-avoidance behavior, consistently destroyed postero-ventral tissue, wbich, in the ~ases of Thompson and Romanovskaya, was also accompanied by extensive damage to other parts of the caudate nuc1eus.…”

Effects of caudate lesions on the acquisition and retention of Sidman avoidance in the rat

“…Investigations of the effects of bilateral darnage to the caudate nucleus upon the acquisition and performance of avoidance behavior have yielded inconsistent findings, Tasks requiring rats with caudate lesions to shuttle in both directions have either revealed marked performance deficits (Green, Beatty, & Schwartzbaum, 1967;Neill & Grossman, 1970) or no deficit at all (Fox, Kimble, & Lickey, 1964;Albert & Bignami, 1968). Likewise, performance in a one-way shuttle avoidance task has been reported to be either impaired (Kirkby & Kimble, 1968) or apparently normal (Winocur & Mills, 1969).…”

Amygdaloid lesions and behavioral inhibition in the rat.

“…It has genera11y been found that e1ectro1ytic 1esions of the septa1 area produce a deficit in passive avoidance behavior (Kaada, Rasmussen & Kveim, 1962;McC1eary, 1961;Zucker & McC1eary, 1964) but either faci1itate or have no effect on two-way shutt1ebox avoidance (Fox, Kimble & Lickey, 1964;Kenyon, 1962;Kenyon & Krieckhaus, 1965;Krieckhaus et al, 1964;McC1eary~ 1961).…”