Cognitive Visual Memory in Cats

The role of cognitive memory in "becoming" of the complexly organised systems is briefly considered from the viewpoint of the general systems theory; the role of Georgian neurophysiologists in emphasising cognitive aspects of memory role in animal behaviour is underlined. The existence of the "one-trial" non-spatial visual recognition memory in cats, as representatives of carnivores with poorly developed vision, is established; it is shown that analogously to primates and rodents in cats the so called rhinal cortex plays a major role in mediating this type of visual cognitive memory. It is shown that in cats, similarly to primates and rodents, parahippocampal cortex (with possible inclusion in this system of the subicular complex) is responsible for visuospatial memory. This book examines the aspects of cognitive visual memory in cats.