INTRANEURAL CONDITIONING

Abstract

The relation of conditioned reflex function to anatomic pathways has been investigated chiefly by the method of extirpation of different parts of the central nervous system, e. g., the cerebral cortex. The function which disappears after extirpation is then assumed to depend on the part extirpated. Such early experiments led Pavlov to believe that the cerebral cortex was indispensable for the elaboration of the conditioned reflex, but this view has been challenged by the subsequent studies of Zeliony,¹in Pavlov's own laboratory, and the work in the laboratories of Bard²(Bromiley) and Culler (Finch, Shurrager and Culler³and others). It should be mentioned in this controversy that Pavlov's conclusions were drawn from work with salivary dogs, while other investigators have used motor conditioned reflexes. Notwithstanding the best surgical technic employed by some of these investigators, certain objections are particularly inherent in the method of extirpation. First, the