TELENCEPHALIC LESIONS AND AVOIDANCE BEHAVIOUR IN GOLDFISH (CARASSIUS AURATUS)

Goldfish with the forebrain ablated are significantly inferior to controls in their ability to learn and retain various types of avoidance problem. The deficit is not related to time for avoidance, and is independent of sensory modality. Use of'go/no-go' schedules shows that a simple activation hypothesis does not explain the results. Splitting of the forebrain commissure prevents interocular transfer. Unilateral forebrain lesions produce deficits when training is to the contralateral eye only, not when training is to the ipsilateral eye. The suggestion is made that the forebrain may serve to alert the animal, and to process reinforcement signals, sending them to the appropriate part of the memory. The lack of alerting would interfere both with learning and retention. © 1969.