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Nieder A. Convergent Circuit Computation for Categorization in the Brains of Primates and Songbirds. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 2023; 15:a041526. [PMID: 38040453 PMCID: PMC10691494 DOI: 10.1101/cshperspect.a041526] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/03/2023]
Abstract
Categorization is crucial for behavioral flexibility because it enables animals to group stimuli into meaningful classes that can easily be generalized to new circumstances. A most abstract quantitative category is set size, the number of elements in a set. This review explores how categorical number representations are realized by the operations of excitatory and inhibitory neurons in associative telencephalic microcircuits in primates and songbirds. Despite the independent evolution of the primate prefrontal cortex and the avian nidopallium caudolaterale, the neuronal computations of these associative pallial circuits show surprising correspondence. Comparing cellular functions in distantly related taxa can inform about the evolutionary principles of circuit computations for cognition in distinctly but convergently realized brain structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Nieder
- Animal Physiology Unit, Institute of Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
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Stacho M, Herold C, Rook N, Wagner H, Axer M, Amunts K, Güntürkün O. A cortex-like canonical circuit in the
avian forebrain. Science 2020; 369:369/6511/eabc5534. [DOI: 10.1126/science.abc5534] [Citation(s) in RCA: 78] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2020] [Accepted: 08/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Although the avian pallium seems to lack
an organization akin to that of the cerebral
cortex, birds exhibit extraordinary cognitive
skills that are comparable to those of mammals. We
analyzed the fiber architecture of the avian
pallium with three-dimensional polarized light
imaging and subsequently reconstructed local and
associative pallial circuits with tracing
techniques. We discovered an iteratively repeated,
column-like neuronal circuitry across the
layer-like nuclear boundaries of the hyperpallium
and the sensory dorsal ventricular ridge. These
circuits are connected to neighboring columns and,
via tangential layer-like connections, to higher
associative and motor areas. Our findings indicate
that this avian canonical circuitry is similar to
its mammalian counterpart and might constitute the
structural basis of neuronal computation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Stacho
- Department of Biopsychology,
Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of
Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, 44801 Bochum,
Germany
- Department of Neurophysiology,
Institute of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine,
Ruhr-University Bochum, 44801 Bochum,
Germany
| | - Christina Herold
- Cécile and Oskar Vogt Institute for
Brain Research, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine
University of Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf,
Germany
| | - Noemi Rook
- Department of Biopsychology,
Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of
Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, 44801 Bochum,
Germany
| | - Hermann Wagner
- Institute for Biology II, RWTH Aachen
University, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Markus Axer
- Institute of Neuroscience and
Medicine INM-1, Research Center Jülich, 52425
Jülich, Germany
| | - Katrin Amunts
- Cécile and Oskar Vogt Institute for
Brain Research, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine
University of Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf,
Germany
- Institute of Neuroscience and
Medicine INM-1, Research Center Jülich, 52425
Jülich, Germany
| | - Onur Güntürkün
- Department of Biopsychology,
Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of
Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, 44801 Bochum,
Germany
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Belekhova MG, Kenigfest NB, Vasilyev DS, Chudinova TV. Distribution of Calcium-Binding Proteins and Cytochrome Oxidase Activity in the Projective Zone (Wulst) of the Pigeon Thalamofugal Visual Pathway: A Discussion in the Light of Current Concepts on Homology between the Avian Wulst and the Mammalian Striate (Visual) Cortex. J EVOL BIOCHEM PHYS+ 2019. [DOI: 10.1134/s0022093019040070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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Nieder A. Evolution of cognitive and neural solutions enabling numerosity judgements: lessons from primates and corvids. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2018; 373:rstb.2016.0514. [PMID: 29292361 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2016.0514] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/29/2017] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Brains that are capable of representing numerosity, the number of items in a set, have arisen repeatedly and independently in different animal taxa. This review compares the cognitive and physiological mechanisms found in a nonhuman primate, the rhesus macaque, and a corvid songbird, the carrion crow, in order to elucidate the evolutionary adaptations underlying numerical competence. Monkeys and corvids are known for their advanced cognitive competence, despite them both having independently and distinctly evolved endbrains that resulted from a long history of parallel evolution. In both species, numerosity is represented as an analogue magnitude by an approximate number system that obeys the Weber-Fechner Law. In addition, the activity of numerosity-selective neurons in the fronto-parietal association cortex of monkeys and the telencephalic associative area nidopallium caudolaterale of crows mirrors the animals' performance. In both species' brains, neuronal activity is tuned to a preferred numerosity, encodes the numerical value in an approximate fashion, and is best represented on a logarithmic scale. Collectively, the data show an impressive correspondence of the cognitive and neuronal mechanisms for numerosity representations across monkeys and crows. This suggests that remotely related vertebrates with distinctly developed endbrains adopted similar physiological solutions to common computational problems in numerosity processing.This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'The origins of numerical abilities'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Nieder
- Animal Physiology Unit, Institute of Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 28, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
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Belekhova MG, Vasilyev DS, Kenigfest NB, Chudinova TV. Calcium-Binding Proteins and Cytochrome Oxidase Activity in the Pigeon Entopallium: A Comparative Analysis of Interspecies Variability as Related to the Discussion on Avian Entopallium Homology. J EVOL BIOCHEM PHYS+ 2018. [DOI: 10.1134/s0022093018010088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
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Güntürkün O, Bugnyar T. Cognition without Cortex. Trends Cogn Sci 2016; 20:291-303. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2016.02.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 142] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2015] [Revised: 02/09/2016] [Accepted: 02/09/2016] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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Belekhova MG, Chudinova TV, Rio JP, Tostivint H, Vesselkin NP, Kenigfest NB. Distribution of calcium-binding proteins in the pigeon visual thalamic centers and related pretectal and mesencephalic nuclei. Phylogenetic and functional determinants. Brain Res 2016; 1631:165-93. [PMID: 26638835 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2015.11.037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2015] [Revised: 11/19/2015] [Accepted: 11/22/2015] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Multichannel processing of environmental information constitutes a fundamental basis of functioning of sensory systems in the vertebrate brain. Two distinct parallel visual systems - the tectofugal and thalamofugal exist in all amniotes. The vertebrate central nervous system contains high concentrations of intracellular calcium-binding proteins (CaBPrs) and each of them has a restricted expression pattern in different brain regions and specific neuronal subpopulations. This study aimed at describing the patterns of distribution of parvalbumin (PV) and calbindin (CB) in the visual thalamic and mesencephalic centers of the pigeon (Columba livia). We used a combination of immunohistochemistry and double labeling immunofluorescent technique. Structures studied included the thalamic relay centers involved in the tectofugal (nucleus rotundus, Rot) and thalamofugal (nucleus geniculatus lateralis, pars dorsalis, GLd) visual pathways as well as pretectal, mesencephalic, isthmic and thalamic structures inducing the driver and/or modulatory action to the visual processing. We showed that neither of these proteins was unique to the Rot or GLd. The Rot contained i) numerous PV-immunoreactive (ir) neurons and a dense neuropil, and ii) a few CB-ir neurons mostly located in the anterior dorsal part and associated with a light neuropil. These latter neurons partially overlapped with the former and some of them colocalized both proteins. The distinct subnuclei of the GLd were also characterized by different patterns of distribution of CaBPrs. Some (nucleus dorsolateralis anterior, pars magnocellularis, DLAmc; pars lateralis, DLL; pars rostrolateralis, DLAlr; nucleus lateralis anterior thalami, LA) contained both CB- and PV-ir neurons in different proportions with a predominance of the former in the DLAmc and DLL. The nucleus lateralis dorsalis of nuclei optici principalis thalami only contained PV-ir neurons and a neuropil similar to the interstitial pretectal/thalamic nuclei of the tectothalamic tract, nucleus pretectalis and thalamic reticular nucleus. The overlapping distribution of PV and CB immunoreactivity was typical for the pretectal nucleus lentiformis mesencephali and the nucleus ectomamillaris as well as for the visual isthmic nuclei. The findings are discussed in the light of the contributive role of the phylogenetic and functional factors determining the circuits׳ specificity of the different CaBPr types.
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Affiliation(s)
- Margarita G Belekhova
- Laboratory of Molecular Mechanisms of Neuronal Interactions, Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 44, Thorez Avenue, 194223 Saint-Petersburg, Russia.
| | - Tatiana V Chudinova
- Laboratory of Molecular Mechanisms of Neuronal Interactions, Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 44, Thorez Avenue, 194223 Saint-Petersburg, Russia.
| | - Jean-Paul Rio
- CRICM UPMC/INSERM UMR_S975/CNRS UMR 7225, Hôpital de la Salpêtrière, 47, Bd de l׳Hôpital, 75651 Paris Cedex 13, France.
| | - Hérve Tostivint
- CNRS UMR 7221, MNHN USM 0501, Département Régulations, Développement et Diversité Moléculaire du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 7, rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris, France.
| | - Nikolai P Vesselkin
- Laboratory of Molecular Mechanisms of Neuronal Interactions, Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 44, Thorez Avenue, 194223 Saint-Petersburg, Russia; Department of Medicine, The State University of Saint-Petersburg, 7-9, Universitetskaya nab., 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia.
| | - Natalia B Kenigfest
- Laboratory of Molecular Mechanisms of Neuronal Interactions, Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 44, Thorez Avenue, 194223 Saint-Petersburg, Russia; CNRS UMR 7221, MNHN USM 0501, Département Régulations, Développement et Diversité Moléculaire du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 7, rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris, France.
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Puelles L, Ayad A, Alonso A, Sandoval J, MartÍnez-de-la-Torre M, Medina L, Ferran J. Selective early expression of the orphan nuclear receptorNr4a2identifies the claustrum homolog in the avian mesopallium: Impact on sauropsidian/mammalian pallium comparisons. J Comp Neurol 2015; 524:665-703. [DOI: 10.1002/cne.23902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2015] [Revised: 09/10/2015] [Accepted: 09/11/2015] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- L. Puelles
- Department of Human Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine; University of Murcia, and Instituto Murciano de Investigación Biosanitaria; Murcia 30071 Spain
| | - A. Ayad
- Department of Human Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine; University of Murcia, and Instituto Murciano de Investigación Biosanitaria; Murcia 30071 Spain
| | - A. Alonso
- Department of Human Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine; University of Murcia, and Instituto Murciano de Investigación Biosanitaria; Murcia 30071 Spain
| | - J.E. Sandoval
- Department of Human Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine; University of Murcia, and Instituto Murciano de Investigación Biosanitaria; Murcia 30071 Spain
| | - M. MartÍnez-de-la-Torre
- Department of Human Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine; University of Murcia, and Instituto Murciano de Investigación Biosanitaria; Murcia 30071 Spain
| | - L. Medina
- Laboratory of Brain Development and Evolution, Department of Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine; University of Lleida, and IRBLleida Institute of Biomedical Research of Lleida; Lleida 25198 Spain
| | - J.L. Ferran
- Department of Human Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine; University of Murcia, and Instituto Murciano de Investigación Biosanitaria; Murcia 30071 Spain
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Faunes M, Francisco Botelho J, Ahumada Galleguillos P, Mpodozis J. On the hodological criterion for homology. Front Neurosci 2015; 9:223. [PMID: 26157357 PMCID: PMC4477164 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2015.00223] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2015] [Accepted: 06/08/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Owen's pre-evolutionary definition of a homolog as “the same organ in different animals under every variety of form and function” and its redefinition after Darwin as “the same trait in different lineages due to common ancestry” entail the same heuristic problem: how to establish “sameness.”Although different criteria for homology often conflict, there is currently a generalized acceptance of gene expression as the best criterion. This gene-centered view of homology results from a reductionist and preformationist concept of living beings. Here, we adopt an alternative organismic-epigenetic viewpoint, and conceive living beings as systems whose identity is given by the dynamic interactions between their components at their multiple levels of composition. We posit that there cannot be an absolute homology criterion, and instead, homology should be inferred from comparisons at the levels and developmental stages where the delimitation of the compared trait lies. In this line, we argue that neural connectivity, i.e., the hodological criterion, should prevail in the determination of homologies between brain supra-cellular structures, such as the vertebrate pallium.
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Affiliation(s)
- Macarena Faunes
- Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland Auckland, New Zealand
| | - João Francisco Botelho
- Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland Auckland, New Zealand ; Grupo Fritz Müller-Desterro de Estudos em Filosofia e História da Biologia, Departamento de Filosofia, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina Florianópolis, Brasil
| | - Patricio Ahumada Galleguillos
- Programa de Anatomía y Biología del Desarrollo, Facultad de Medicina, Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Universidad de Chile Santiago, Chile
| | - Jorge Mpodozis
- Laboratorio de Neurobiología y Biología del Conocer, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile Santiago, Chile
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10
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Striedter GF. Evolution of the hippocampus in reptiles and birds. J Comp Neurol 2015; 524:496-517. [DOI: 10.1002/cne.23803] [Citation(s) in RCA: 87] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2015] [Revised: 04/17/2015] [Accepted: 04/29/2015] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Georg F. Striedter
- Department of Neurobiology & Behavior and Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory; University of California; Irvine Irvine California 92697-4550
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11
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Aboitiz F, Zamorano F. Neural progenitors, patterning and ecology in neocortical origins. Front Neuroanat 2013; 7:38. [PMID: 24273496 PMCID: PMC3824149 DOI: 10.3389/fnana.2013.00038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2013] [Accepted: 10/21/2013] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
The anatomical organization of the mammalian neocortex stands out among vertebrates for its laminar and columnar arrangement, featuring vertically oriented, excitatory pyramidal neurons. The evolutionary origin of this structure is discussed here in relation to the brain organization of other amniotes, i.e., the sauropsids (reptiles and birds). Specifically, we address the developmental modifications that had to take place to generate the neocortex, and to what extent these modifications were shared by other amniote lineages or can be considered unique to mammals. In this article, we propose a hypothesis that combines the control of proliferation in neural progenitor pools with the specification of regional morphogenetic gradients, yielding different anatomical results by virtue of the differential modulation of these processes in each lineage. Thus, there is a highly conserved genetic and developmental battery that becomes modulated in different directions according to specific selective pressures. In the case of early mammals, ecological conditions like nocturnal habits and reproductive strategies are considered to have played a key role in the selection of the particular brain patterning mechanisms that led to the origin of the neocortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francisco Aboitiz
- Departamento de Psiquiatría, Facultad de Medicina y Centro Interdisciplinario de Neurociencia, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Santiago, Chile
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Striedter GF. Bird brains and tool use: beyond instrumental conditioning. BRAIN, BEHAVIOR AND EVOLUTION 2013; 82:55-67. [PMID: 23979456 DOI: 10.1159/000352003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Few displays of complex cognition are as intriguing as nonhuman tool use. Long thought to be unique to humans, evidence for tool use and manufacture has now been gathered in chimpanzees, dolphins, and elephants. Outside of mammals, tool use is most common in birds, especially in corvids and parrots. The present paper reviews the evidence for avian tool use, both in the wild and in laboratory settings. It also places this behavioral evidence in the context of longstanding debates about the kinds of mental processes nonhumans can perform. Descartes argued that animals are unable to think because they are soulless machines, incapable of flexible behavior. Later, as human machines became more sophisticated and psychologists discovered classical and instrumental conditioning, skepticism about animal thinking decreased. However, behaviors that involve more than simple conditioning continued to elicit skepticism, especially among behaviorists. Nonetheless, as reviewed here, strong behavioral data now indicate that tool use in some birds cannot be explained as resulting entirely from instrumental conditioning. The neural substrates of tool use in birds remain unclear, but the available data point mainly to the caudolateral nidopallium, which shares both functional and structural features with the mammalian prefrontal cortex. As more data on the neural mechanisms of complex cognition in birds accrue, skepticism about those mental capacities should continue to wane.
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Affiliation(s)
- Georg F Striedter
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697-4550, USA.
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