Species-typical behavior of hamsters deprived from birth of the neocortex.
Hamsters deprived from birth of the neocortex developed normally and displayed the usual hamster-typical behavioral patterns. With the additional concurrent destruction of midline limbic convolutions (cingulate and underlying dorsal hippocampal), there were deficits in maternal behavior and a lack of development of play behavior. These findings demonstrate in a rodent (i) that the striatal complex and limbic system, along with the remaining neuraxis, are sufficient for giving expression to a wide range of unlearned forms of species-typical behavior and (ii) that midline limbic structures are required for the expression of play behavior and the integrated performance of maternal behavior.
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D006224:Cricetinae; D008647:Mesocricetus; D013045:Species Specificity