Improvement produced by lateral amygdala lesions on the instrumental alimentary performance imparied by dorsomedial amygdala lesions in dogs.
The dorsomedial and subsequent lateral amygdala lesions were performed on 6 dogs. Lesions of the dorsomedial part produced transient aphagia, decrease of body weight and either abolishment or impairment  of instrumental performance. Subsequent lesions of the lateral amygdala produced restoration or improvement and stabilization of the instrumental performance. It is supposed that the prevailing inhibitory influences from the lateral amygdala are the main cause of the impairment of instrumental performance after dorso-medial amygdalar lesions. The removal of this source of inhibition  enabled restoration of instrumental performance and other alimentary positive functions.
D000679:Amygdala / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000502:physiology*; D004285:Dogs; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology