Effects of thalamic and olfactory cortical lesions on continuous olfactory delayed nonmatching-to-sample and olfactory discrimination in rats (Rattus norvegicus)

Behav Neurosci. 1998 Feb;112(1):39-53. doi: 10.1037//0735-7044.112.1.39.

Abstract

We conducted 2 studies to determine the importance of several brain systems for remembering odorants in a go/no-go delayed nonmatching-to-sample (DNMTS) task. In Experiment 1, impairments were observed for lesions of pyriform cortex or (to a lesser extent) the lateral internal medullary lamina of thalamus. Lesions of the entorhinal cortex or the mediodorsal (MDn) or the paracentral and centrolateral (PC-CL) thalamic nuclei did not affect DNMTS. In Experiment 2, an impairment comparable to the pyriform lesion was observed for a lesion of the intralaminar nuclei (PC-CL plus the central medial nucleus) but not for a larger lesion of MDn. None of the lesions in either study affected the ability to learn a 2-choice odor discrimination using go/no-go procedures comparable with the DNMTS task.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Attention / physiology*
  • Brain Mapping
  • Discrimination Learning / physiology*
  • Male
  • Mental Recall / physiology*
  • Olfactory Pathways / physiology*
  • Rats
  • Retention, Psychology / physiology
  • Smell / physiology*
  • Thalamic Nuclei / physiology*