Amphetamine accelerates recovery of locomotor function following bilateral frontal cortex ablation in cats

Prior work has demonstrated that d-amphetamine hastens recovery of beam-walking ability following unilateral sensorimotor or frontal cortex ablation (Hovda & Feeney, 1984). In this study, after bilateral frontal cortex ablation, cats given injections of d-amphetamine showed an enduring acceleration of recovery of beam-walking ability relative to saline controls. In general, rates of spontaneous and drug-induced recovery in cats with bilateral lesions were similar to those previously reported for cats with unilateral ablations. These results indicate that the bilateral corticostriate and corticothalamic projections from the contralateral homotopic cortex do not mediate the beneficial effects of d-amphetamine on locomotor recovery after unilateral cortical ablation.