[Conditioned reflexes following destruction of the deep structures of the brain]

The role and the relative significance of paleo-, archi- and neostriatum as well as Corpus Luysii, substantia innominata, substantia nigra, nucl. ruber and the hippocampus, in the mechanism of purposeful behaviour of animals, were studied on cats and rats. It has been shown that the above structures, together with the cerebral cortex, take part in operational memory. The data obtained continue the evolutionary concept of L. A. Orbeli that in higher vertebrates with a well-developed cortex, the deeper brain structures do not lose their initial function, and together with the cortex, participate in the provision for the integrative activity of the brain.