Investigation of habituation reaction of neurons of the cat motor cortex

Abstract

The neuronal and total surface activity of the cortical representation of the motor analyzer in the region of the posterior sigmoid gyrus of the cat brain in response to rhythmical light, sound, and electrical stimuli and their complexes was analyzed. Two groups of neurons were found, of which the first is characterized by a gradual decrease in the number of peaks in the response and by their subsequent disappearance and the second by the absence of a discharge in response to stimulation and by its development before the application of the next stimulus. The first group was comprised of neurons which do not have background activity and the second was made up of neurons with a background activity of 0.4–3.7 imp/sec. This reorganization of the activity of cortical neurons in response to rhythmical stimulation is considered to be a habituation phenomenon.