Function of dog’s auditory cortex in tests involving auditory location cues and directional instrumental response

Abstract

Twenty one dogs, distributed into four groups, were trained pre-operatively in differentiation of auditory location or frequency cues. In each group instrumental responses, reinforced by food consisted in placing by the animal its right paw on the side levers. The first differentiation, go-left, go-right task with two location cues, required the animal to place its paw on the lever located opposite to the source of the cue. The second differentiation task with the same location cues required placing the paw on the lever located close to the cue. The third task, involving 700 Hz vs. 1000 Hz tone, required responding to one lever to the presentation of one tone and responding to the opposite lever to the presentation of the other. The last task was a symmetrically reinforced go, no-go differentiation with, again, auditory location cues: the animals were trained to place the paw on a lever to one location cue and to withhold this response to the other location cue. Bilateral ablation of the primary auditory cortex produced a considerable impairment of the performance of the two go-left, go-right tasks involving location cues. The go-left, go-right task employing frequency cues, and the symmetrically reinforced go, no-go task with location cues, were only slightly disturbed by this lesion.