Transfer of learning but not memory after unilateral cerebellar lesion in rabbits.

Abstract

Unilateral lesion of the cerebellum in rabbits completely and permanently abolishes previous learning and prevents new learning ipsilateral to the lesion. However, when training continues on the contralateral side, there is substantial savings in that it takes few trials to learn. This observation may imply that the memory survives the lesion. Rabbits were classically conditioned for an eyelid response and then the ipsilateral interpositus nucleus of the cerebellum was lesioned. Then the rabbits were trained on the contralateral side. There is no savings on the contralateral side without first trying to train on the lesioned side. The authors conclude that the survival of a memory after the lesion probably does not account for the rapid transfer, but rather that the act of trying to train on the lesioned side in previous studies first induces a new memory on the contralateral side.