Recovery of function following simultaneous and serial telencephalon ablation in the teleost, Macropodus opercularis.

Previous investigations in male Macropodus showed that simultaneous bilateral removal of the telencephalon results in decreased sexual and nest-building behavior. The current investigation was to determine whether serial unilateral ablation of the telencephalic hemispheres, increased recovery time following simultaneous ablation, or prior spawning experience can produce savings in reproductive behavior. Preoperative sexual experience did not alter the behavioral effects of telencephalon ablation. All components of reproductive behavior were decreased following serial or simultaneous ablation of the telencephalon, but none were eliminated. When simultaneous ablation males were allowed to recover for a period of time equal to that following the second operation of the serial ablation, they showed less sexual behavior than the serial ablation males. When the recovery time was equal to that following the first operation of the serial ablation, the simultaneous and serial ablation males showed no significant differences in reproductive behavior. The results indicate that removal of one lobe of the telencephalon initiates alterations in nontelencephalic structures which result in increased savings in sexual behavior following removal of the second hemisphere. Similar neural alterations may be responsible for the recovery of function following simultaneous bilateral ablation of the telencephalon.