Conditionability of a late positive component of the visual evoked response in chronically implanted hooded rats
Date
1977
Authors
Miller, Harvey Adolphe
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Abstract
A contingent reinforcement paradigm was employed to alter the latency of the late positive potential (PL) in the visual evoked potential of the rat. Three groups of adult male rats were prepared with indwelling electrode implants. One group was trained to decrease latency, a second group was trained to increase latency, and a third group was employed as a control. It was found that animals in the decreased latency group showed some mean latency decrease but only two changes wee statistically significant. In the increased latency group, two animals produced the appropriate shift but only one animal produced a statistically significant latency shift. In the control group, no reliable latency changes occurred. Examination of selected cases support the proposition that latency of PL as a neural event is an adaptively significant part of the neural language.