Subtotal lesions of the visual cortex impair discrimination of hidden figures by cats

Cats with partial or nearly total ablation of areas 17, 18, and 19 were assessed on the discrimination of hidden figures and other visually guided behaviors to determine whether such insults produce deficits like those that follow lateral striate lesions in monkeys. Cats with destruction limited to the representation of central vision (Group M) were impaired at discriminating patterns complicated by extraneous cues, but they were less impaired than cats with more complete lesions (Group MS). The deficit was not a general one in visual learning since animals in both Groups M and MS learned simple pattern discriminations as rapidly as controls. It is suggested that the loss of geniculocortical functions representing central vision produces similar deficits in cats and monkeys but that to have this effect in cats, damage must extend beyond area 17.