Feedback training of 36 - 44 HZ EEG activity in the visual cortex and hippocampus of cats: evidence for sensory and motor involvement

Abstract

Milk reinforcement was contingent on the occurrence of 36 -44 (40) Hz EEG activity in the left visual cortex (VC) of one group of cats and in the right hippocampus (H) of a second group. Both groups learned to increase 40 Hz activity, and acquisition of reinforcement was associated with immobility. A third group (behavioral controls - BC) was trained by the method of successive approximation to behave in a similar manner to VC and H cats. Training significantly increased 40 Hz activity in all of the following structures, except the hippocampi of VC cats and between the right and left visual cortex of H and BC cats: posterior primary visual cortex (bilateral), anterior primary visual cortex (left), primary motor cortex (bilateral), dorsal hippocampus (bilateral), and midbrain reticular formation (bilateral). Since the behavioral and EEG changes of H and BC animals were similar, immobility appears to be important for increased hippocampal 40 Hz activity produced by feedback training. Testing in darkness enhanced 40 Hz activity in the trained area of VC cats but had no effect on H or BC animals. These results, in conjunction with the observation that VC cats appeared to visually fixate, suggest that VC cats may have learned to increase 40 Hz activity in the visual cortex by altering visual processing.