Differential effects of cortical ablation and spreading depression on sensitivity to footshock: implications for the role of the cortex in learning.
Rats were tested for flinch and jump responses to shock under unilateral and bilateral spreading depression (USD and BSD) and unilateral cortical ablation (UCA). Some Ss were tested with insulating boots on the left or right limbs. Under USD and  UCA the limbs contralateral to the depressed or ablated hemisphere were as insensitive as when under BSD, and the ipsilateral limbs were almost as sensitive as in the normal condition. The data indicate that lack of transfer typically found in the USD transfer paradigm can be attributed to stimulus factors and not to learning or memory deficits, especially since most studies have used a shock level which does not exceed the jump threshold for a depressed hemisphere.
D000818:Animals; D001362:Avoidance Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D002541:Cerebral Decortication; D013181:Cortical Spreading Depression; D007839:Functional Laterality; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats