Effect of amygdaloid lesions on retention of an avoidance response in overtrained and non-overtrained rats

Abstract

The effects of electrolytic amygdala lesions on retention of an active avoidance response were investigated in overtrained and non-overtrained rats. All overtrained rats exhibited normal retention following bilateral amygdala lesions while retention was impaired in three out of four of the non-overtrained rats in which the basolateral nuclei were damaged. These results were interpreted as supporting the hypothesis that the amygdala is primarily involved in acquisition processes and not long-term memory storage. © 1966, Psychonomic Press. All rights reserved.