Behavioural repertory of cats without cerebral cortex from infancy

Abstract

Bilateral removal of the cerebral cortex was made in cats neonatally. Spontaneous and imposed behaviour was studied while they were growing up and after they had become adult. Special emphasis was put on the utilization of visual cues and on learning. The cats ate, drank and groomed themselves adequately. Adequate maternal and female sexual behaviour was observed. They utilized the visual and haptic senses with respect to external space. Two cats were trained to perform visual discrimination if a T-maze. The adequacy of the behaviour of these cats is compared to that of animals with similar lesions made at maturity.