Delayed-alternation performance after selective lesions within the prefrontal cortex of the cat

On the basis of new neuroanatomical findings on relationships between subregions of the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus and the prefrontal cortex of the cat, it was attempted to investigate the relative importance of prefrontal subfields with the aim of obtaining evidence in favor of a functional inequality of different prefrontal subfields. Four areas, named presylvian (PRS), proreal (PR), dorsomedial (DM), and orbito-insular (OI) sectors, were ablated successfully in 30 adult animals. Performance of a 10-sec delayed-alternation task was compared pre- and postoperatively. Furthermore, most of the cats had to learn an extension of this task postoperatively, using a 20-sec delay period, and lastly, these animals were subjected to an extinction test. Significant performance differences were obtained between cats of different groups in all three tasks. Lesions of subregion PR, and even more of subregion PRS, led to severe behavioral deterioration, whereas lesions of subregion OI were without effect, when compared with the behavior of a sham-operated control group. PRS-cats, furthermore, showed motor disturbances during the first postoperative week. The results obtained suggest that it is possible to subdivide the cat's prefrontal cortex functionally. In addition, it is hypothesized that behavioral changes in cats of groups PRS and PR are due to an inability to use kinesthetic information properly.