Pattern discrimination after unilateral and bilateral ablation of the occipital lobe in the rabbit

Previous studies in rabbits have shown that a unilateral ablation of the occipital lobe leads to a severe impairment of the ability to discriminate striated patterns. Considerable retraining is required in order to reach the 90% correct level with the eye contralateral to the lesion. In the present study the effects of a unilateral and bilateral ablation are compared. It is concluded that the rudimentary ability to discriminate patterns with the eye contralateral to a unilateral ablation of the occipital lobe is mediated by the remaining ipsilateral cortical projection and not by subcortical structures.