Classical Conditioning with Auditory Discrimination of the Eye Blink in Decerebrate Cats

Cats were subjected to complete lower brainstem transection, and were then tested for learning ability according to a classical conditioning paradigm. An auditory stimulus was systematically paired with a brief shock to the eyelid. Within a few weeks after the operation, the decerebrate cats could learn the conditioned response with a tone frequency discrimination and then a discrimination reversal. Our results support the notion that the brainstem reticular formation can support a conditioned response which isbehaviorally similar to that obtained in the intact animal.