Can male decorticate rats copulate?
Sexually experienced or naive male rats, subjected to neocortex removal or neocortex plus hippocampus removal, were paired with female rats for up to 180 days and compared with control rats with respect to success and latency to impregnate the female. All of the control rats and half of the brain-damaged rats successfully impregnated female rats at least once. Success was not correlated with lesion type or presurgical experience. The brain-damaged rats took longer to impregnate the females than control rats. Since the ablations were extensive, more than 95% of the neocortex in many rats, the study shows that decorticate rats can copulate. Presumably the intact subcortical structures are sufficient for male copulation, but cortical structures in some way facilitate rapid female impregnation.