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Nemati SS, Sadeghi L, Dehghan G, Sheibani N. Lateralization of the hippocampus: A review of molecular, functional, and physiological properties in health and disease. Behav Brain Res 2023; 454:114657. [PMID: 37683813 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2023.114657] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2023] [Revised: 09/04/2023] [Accepted: 09/05/2023] [Indexed: 09/10/2023]
Abstract
The hippocampus is a part of the brain's medial temporal lobe that is located under the cortex. It belongs to the limbic system and helps to collect and transfer information from short-term to long-term memory, as well as spatial orientation in each mammalian brain hemisphere. After more than two centuries of research in brain asymmetry, the hippocampus has attracted much attention in the study of brain lateralization. The hippocampus is very important in cognitive disorders, related to seizures and dementia, such as epilepsy and Alzheimer's disease. In addition, the motivation to study the hippocampus has increased significantly due to the asymmetry in the activity of the left and right hippocampi in healthy people, and its disruption during some neurological diseases. After a general review of the hippocampal structure and its importance in related diseases, the asymmetry in the brain with a focus on the hippocampus during the growth and maturation of healthy people, as well as the differences created in patients at the molecular, functional, and physiological levels are discussed. Most previous work indicates that the hippocampus is lateralized in healthy people. Also, lateralization at different levels remarkably changes in patients, and it appears that the most complex cognitive disorder is caused by a new dominant asymmetric system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seyed Saman Nemati
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Tabriz, 51666-16471 Tabriz, Iran
| | - Leila Sadeghi
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Tabriz, 51666-16471 Tabriz, Iran.
| | - Gholamreza Dehghan
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Tabriz, 51666-16471 Tabriz, Iran.
| | - Nader Sheibani
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI 53705, USA
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2
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Gagliardo A, Pollonara E, Casini G, Bingman VP. Unilateral hippocampal lesions and the navigational performance of homing pigeons as revealed by GPS-tracking. ETHOL ECOL EVOL 2022. [DOI: 10.1080/03949370.2022.2152105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Anna Gagliardo
- Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Pisa 56126, Italy
| | | | - Giovanni Casini
- Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Pisa 56126, Italy
| | - Verner P. Bingman
- Department of Psychology, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403, USA
- J.P. Scott Center for Neuroscience, Mind and Behavior, Bowling Green, OH 43403, USA
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3
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Xiao Q, Güntürkün O. The commissura anterior compensates asymmetries of visual representation in pigeons. Laterality 2021; 26:213-237. [PMID: 33622187 DOI: 10.1080/1357650x.2021.1889577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
This study was undertaken to understand what is transferred between hemispheres through the commissura anterior during a colour discrimination task in pigeons. We transiently blocked neuronal activity of the arcopallium of one hemisphere to interrupt interhemispheric communication. Before and during this intervention, we recorded from arcopallial neurons of the non-anaesthetized side while the animals discriminated stimuli ipsilateral to the recorded neurons. Due to the complete crossover of optic nerves in birds, we assumed that these neurons were at least in part requiring information from the other hemisphere to properly run the task. While lidocaine injections in both hemispheres caused some performance reductions, deficits of right arcopallial neurons were much larger when blocking interhemispheric transfer. Our results make it likely that visual information is exchanged through the commissura anterior in an asymmetrical manner with the left hemisphere providing the other side more information about the right visual half-field than vice versa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qian Xiao
- Faculty of Psychology, Department of Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.,Laboratory of Interdisciplinary Research, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China
| | - Onur Güntürkün
- Faculty of Psychology, Department of Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
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Coppola VJ, Bingman VP. c-Fos revealed lower hippocampal participation in older homing pigeons when challenged with a spatial memory task. Neurobiol Aging 2019; 87:98-107. [PMID: 31889558 DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2019.11.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2018] [Revised: 11/24/2019] [Accepted: 11/25/2019] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Homing pigeons experience age-related spatial-cognitive decline similar to that seen in mammals. In contrast to mammals, however, previous studies have shown the hippocampal formation (HF) of old, cognitively impaired pigeons to be greater in volume and neuron number compared with young pigeons. As a partial explanation of the cognitive decline in older birds, it was hypothesized that older pigeons have reduced HF activation during spatial learning. The present study compared HF activation (via the activity-dependent expression of the immediate early gene c-Fos) between younger and older pigeons during learning of a spatial, delayed nonmatch-to-sample task. On the last day of training, c-Fos activation significantly correlated with behavioral performance in the young, but not old, pigeons suggesting more HF engagement by the young pigeons in solving the task. The behavioral correlation was additionally associated with consistently higher, but insignificant c-Fos activation across practically every HF subdivision in the young compared with the old pigeons. In sum, the results of the present study are consistent with the hypothesis that age-related decline in the spatial cognitive ability of homing pigeons is in part a result of an older HF being less responsive to the processing of spatial information. However, alternative interpretations of the data are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vincent J Coppola
- Department of Psychology, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH, USA; J.P. Scott Center for Neuroscience, Mind, & Behavior, Bowling Green, OH, USA.
| | - Verner P Bingman
- Department of Psychology, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH, USA; J.P. Scott Center for Neuroscience, Mind, & Behavior, Bowling Green, OH, USA
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Mazengenya P, Bhagwandin A, Nkomozepi P, Manger PR, Ihunwo AO. Putative adult neurogenesis in two domestic pigeon breeds (Columba livia domestica): racing homer versus utility carneau pigeons. Neural Regen Res 2017; 12:1086-1096. [PMID: 28852390 PMCID: PMC5558487 DOI: 10.4103/1673-5374.211187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Generation of neurons in the brains of adult birds has been studied extensively in the telencephalon of song birds and few studies are reported on the distribution of PCNA and DCX in the telencephalon of adult non-song learning birds. We report here on adult neurogenesis throughout the brains of two breeds of adult domestic pigeons (Columba livia domestica), the racing homer and utility carneau using endogenous immunohistochemical markers proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) for proliferating cells and doublecortin (DCX) for immature and migrating neurons. The distribution of PCNA and DCX immunoreactivity was very similar in both pigeon breeds with only a few minor differences. In both pigeons, PCNA and DCX immunoreactivity was observed in the olfactory bulbs, walls of the lateral ventricle, telencephalic subdivisions of the pallium and subpallium, diencephalon, mesencephalon and cerebellum. Generally, the olfactory bulbs and telencephalon had more PCNA and DCX cells than other regions. Two proliferative hotspots were evident in the dorsal and ventral poles of the lateral ventricles. PCNA- and DCX-immunoreactive cells migrated radially from the walls of the lateral ventricle into the parenchyma. In most telencephalic regions, the density of PCNA- and DCX-immunoreactive cells increased from rostral to caudal, except in the mesopallium where the density decreased from rostral to middle levels and then increased caudally. DCX immunoreactivity was more intense in fibres than in cell bodies and DCX-immunoreactive cells included small granular cells, fusiform bipolar cells, large round and or polygonal multipolar cells. The similarity in the distribution of proliferating cells and new neurons in the telencephalon of the two breeds of pigeons may suggest that adult neurogenesis is a conserved trait as an ecological adaptation irrespective of body size.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pedzisai Mazengenya
- School of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Adhil Bhagwandin
- School of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Pilani Nkomozepi
- School of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Paul R Manger
- School of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Amadi O Ihunwo
- School of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
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Bingman VP, Sharp PE. Neuronal Implementation of Hippocampal-Mediated Spatial Behavior: A Comparative Evolutionary Perspective. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2016; 5:80-91. [PMID: 16801684 DOI: 10.1177/1534582306289578] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
The hippocampal formation (HF) of mammals and birds plays a strikingly similar role in the representation of space. This evolutionarily conserved property, however, belies the contrasting spatial ecology of animals such as rats and homing pigeons, differing spatial ecologies that should have promoted the evolution of group-specific adaptations to the HF representation of space. However, the spatial response properties of pigeon and rat HF neurons reveal surprising similarity in the contribution of position, direction, and trajectory toward explaining spatial variation in firing rate. By contrast, the asymmetrical distribution of neuronal response properties in the left and right HF of homing pigeons, but not rats, indicates a difference in network organization. The authors propose that hippocampal evolution may be characterized by inertia with respect to changes in the basic spatial elements that determine the response properties of neurons but considerable plasticity in how the neuronal response elements are organized into functional networks.
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Cauchoix M, Chaine AS. How Can We Study the Evolution of Animal Minds? Front Psychol 2016; 7:358. [PMID: 27014163 PMCID: PMC4791388 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2015] [Accepted: 02/26/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
During the last 50 years, comparative cognition and neurosciences have improved our understanding of animal minds while evolutionary ecology has revealed how selection acts on traits through evolutionary time. We describe how cognition can be subject to natural selection like any other biological trait and how this evolutionary approach can be used to understand the evolution of animal cognition. We recount how comparative and fitness methods have been used to understand the evolution of cognition and outline how these approaches could extend our understanding of cognition. The fitness approach, in particular, offers unprecedented opportunities to study the evolutionary mechanisms responsible for variation in cognition within species and could allow us to investigate both proximate (i.e., neural and developmental) and ultimate (i.e., ecological and evolutionary) underpinnings of animal cognition together. We highlight recent studies that have successfully shown that cognitive traits can be under selection, in particular by linking individual variation in cognition to fitness. To bridge the gap between cognitive variation and fitness consequences and to better understand why and how selection can occur on cognition, we end this review by proposing a more integrative approach to study contemporary selection on cognitive traits combining socio-ecological data, minimally invasive neuroscience methods and measurement of ecologically relevant behaviors linked to fitness. Our overall goal in this review is to build a bridge between cognitive neuroscientists and evolutionary biologists, illustrate how their research could be complementary, and encourage evolutionary ecologists to include explicit attention to cognitive processes in their studies of behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Alexis S Chaine
- Institute for Advanced Study in ToulouseToulouse, France; Station for Experimental Ecology in Moulis, CNRSMoulis, France
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8
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Herold C, Coppola VJ, Bingman VP. The maturation of research into the avian hippocampal formation: Recent discoveries from one of the nature's foremost navigators. Hippocampus 2015; 25:1193-211. [DOI: 10.1002/hipo.22463] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/27/2015] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Christina Herold
- C. & O. Vogt-Institute of Brain Research, University of Düsseldorf; Düsseldorf Germany
| | - Vincent J. Coppola
- Department of Psychology; J. P. Scott Center for Neuroscience, Bowling Green State University; Bowling Green Ohio
| | - Verner P. Bingman
- Department of Psychology; J. P. Scott Center for Neuroscience, Bowling Green State University; Bowling Green Ohio
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9
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Jonckers E, Güntürkün O, De Groof G, Van der Linden A, Bingman VP. Network structure of functional hippocampal lateralization in birds. Hippocampus 2015; 25:1418-28. [DOI: 10.1002/hipo.22462] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/17/2015] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Onur Güntürkün
- Department of Biopsychology; Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum; Bochum Germany
| | - Geert De Groof
- Bio-Imaging Laboratory; University of Antwerp; Antwerp Belgium
| | | | - Verner P. Bingman
- Department of Psychology; Bowling Green State University; Bowling Green Ohio
- J.P. Scott Center for Neuroscience, Mind and Behavior; Bowling Green State University; Bowling Green Ohio
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10
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Mayer U, Watanabe S, Bischof HJ. Spatial memory and the avian hippocampus: Research in zebra finches. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2013; 107:2-12. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jphysparis.2012.05.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2012] [Revised: 05/08/2012] [Accepted: 05/10/2012] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
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11
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Distribution and characterization of doublecortin-expressing cells and fibers in the brain of the adult pigeon (Columba livia). J Chem Neuroanat 2013; 47:57-70. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jchemneu.2012.10.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2012] [Revised: 10/29/2012] [Accepted: 10/29/2012] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
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12
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Ocklenburg S, Ströckens F, Güntürkün O. Lateralisation of conspecific vocalisation in non-human vertebrates. Laterality 2013; 18:1-31. [DOI: 10.1080/1357650x.2011.626561] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
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13
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Hoeller AA, dos Santos TS, Bruxel RR, Dallazen AR, do Amaral Silva HT, André ES, Marino-Neto J. Serotonergic control of ingestive and post-ingestive behaviors in pigeons (Columba livia): The role of 5-HT1A receptor-mediated central mechanisms. Behav Brain Res 2013; 236:118-130. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2012.08.035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2012] [Revised: 07/26/2012] [Accepted: 08/16/2012] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
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14
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Gehring D, Wiltschko W, Güntürkün O, Denzau S, Wiltschko R. Development of lateralization of the magnetic compass in a migratory bird. Proc Biol Sci 2012; 279:4230-5. [PMID: 22933375 PMCID: PMC3441093 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2012.1654] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The magnetic compass of a migratory bird, the European robin (Erithacus rubecula), was shown to be lateralized in favour of the right eye/left brain hemisphere. However, this seems to be a property of the avian magnetic compass that is not present from the beginning, but develops only as the birds grow older. During first migration in autumn, juvenile robins can orient by their magnetic compass with their right as well as with their left eye. In the following spring, however, the magnetic compass is already lateralized, but this lateralization is still flexible: it could be removed by covering the right eye for 6 h. During the following autumn migration, the lateralization becomes more strongly fixed, with a 6 h occlusion of the right eye no longer having an effect. This change from a bilateral to a lateralized magnetic compass appears to be a maturation process, the first such case known so far in birds. Because both eyes mediate identical information about the geomagnetic field, brain asymmetry for the magnetic compass could increase efficiency by setting the other hemisphere free for other processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dennis Gehring
- FB Biowissenschaften, J.W. Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Siesmayerstr. 70, 60054 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
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15
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Barry C, Heys JG, Hasselmo ME. Possible role of acetylcholine in regulating spatial novelty effects on theta rhythm and grid cells. Front Neural Circuits 2012; 6:5. [PMID: 22363266 PMCID: PMC3282552 DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2012.00005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2011] [Accepted: 02/02/2012] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Existing pharmacological and lesion data indicate that acetylcholine plays an important role in memory formation. For example, increased levels of acetylcholine in the hippocampal formation are known to be associated with successful encoding while disruption of the cholinergic system leads to impairments on a range of mnemonic tasks. However, cholinergic signaling from the medial septum also plays a central role in generating and pacing theta-band oscillations throughout the hippocampal formation. Recent experimental results suggest a potential link between these distinct phenomena. Environmental novelty, a condition associated with strong cholinergic drive, has been shown to induce an expansion in the firing pattern of entorhinal grid cells and a reduction in the frequency of theta measured from the LFP. Computational modeling suggests the spatial activity of grid cells is produced by interference between neuronal oscillators; scale being determined by theta-band oscillations impinging on entorhinal stellate cells, the frequency of which is modulated by acetylcholine. Here we propose that increased cholinergic signaling in response to environmental novelty triggers grid expansion by reducing the frequency of the oscillations. Furthermore, we argue that cholinergic induced grid expansion may enhance, or even induce, encoding by producing a mismatch between expanded grid cells and other spatial inputs to the hippocampus, such as boundary vector cells. Indeed, a further source of mismatch is likely to occur between grid cells of different native scales which may expand by different relative amounts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caswell Barry
- Department of Psychology, Center for Memory and Brain, Boston University, BostonMA, USA
- Institute of Neurology, University College LondonLondon, UK
| | - James G. Heys
- Department of Psychology, Center for Memory and Brain, Boston University, BostonMA, USA
| | - Michael E. Hasselmo
- Department of Psychology, Center for Memory and Brain, Boston University, BostonMA, USA
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From natural geometry to spatial cognition. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2012; 36:799-824. [PMID: 22206900 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2011.12.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2011] [Revised: 12/07/2011] [Accepted: 12/13/2011] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
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Abstract
How do we know where we are? Orientation in space is key to our daily existence as we follow familiar routes, navigate to a previous location, or just try to get home as quickly as possible. As well as being interesting in its own right, spatial cognition is also a useful model system in which to understand the neural bases of cognition and memory formation more generally. Spatial behavior offers potentially straightforward correlates of neuronal activity that can be studied similarly in adults and infants of both human and non-human animals. The neural mechanisms of spatial behavior can be realistically investigated in a well-controlled way with the aid of virtual reality technologies in humans and rodents. Virtual reality can thus help to bridge the gap between electrophysiological studies in rodents and brain imaging studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging in humans. Within this framework, this article aims to translate findings from the single cell level in rodents to understand the neural and systems level mechanisms of spatial cognition in the human brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian F. Doeller
- Radboud University Nijmegen, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Caswell Barry
- UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, United Kingdom
- UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
- UCL Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Neil Burgess
- UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, United Kingdom
- UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
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Patzke N, Manns M, Güntürkün O, Ioalè P, Gagliardo A. Navigation-induced ZENK expression in the olfactory system of pigeons (Columba livia). Eur J Neurosci 2010; 31:2062-72. [PMID: 20529114 DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2010.07240.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
A large body of evidence indicates that pigeons use olfactory cues to navigate over unfamiliar areas with a differential contribution of the left and right hemispheres. In particular, the right nostril/olfactory bulb (OB) and left piriform cortex (Cpi) have been demonstrated to be crucially involved in navigation. In this study we analysed behaviour-induced activation of the olfactory system, indicated by the expression of the immediate early gene ZENK, under different homing conditions. One experimental group was released from an unfamiliar site, the second group was transported to the unfamiliar site and back to the loft, and the third group was released in front of the loft. To evaluate the differential contribution of the left and/or right olfactory input, the nostrils of the pigeons were either occluded unilaterally or not. Released pigeons revealed the highest ZENK cell density in the OB and Cpi, indicating that the olfactory system is activated during navigation from an unfamiliar site. The groups with no plug showed the highest ZENK cell density, supporting the activation of the olfactory system probably being due to sensory input. Moreover, both Cpis seem to contribute differently to the navigation process. Only occlusion of the right OB resulted in a decreased ZENK cell expression in the Cpi, whereas occlusion of the left nostril had no effect. This is the first study to reveal neuronal activation patterns in the olfactory system during homing. Our data show that lateralized processing of olfactory cues is indeed involved in navigation over unfamiliar areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nina Patzke
- Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstrasse 150, GAFO 05/623, 44780 Bochum, Germany.
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Sherry DF, Hoshooley JS. Seasonal hippocampal plasticity in food-storing birds. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2010; 365:933-43. [PMID: 20156817 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2009.0220] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Both food-storing behaviour and the hippocampus change annually in food-storing birds. Food storing increases substantially in autumn and winter in chickadees and tits, jays and nutcrackers and nuthatches. The total size of the chickadee hippocampus increases in autumn and winter as does the rate of hippocampal neurogenesis. The hippocampus is necessary for accurate cache retrieval in food-storing birds and is much larger in food-storing birds than in non-storing passerines. It therefore seems probable that seasonal change in caching and seasonal change in the hippocampus are causally related. The peak in recruitment of new neurons into the hippocampus occurs before birds have completed food storing and cache retrieval for the year and may therefore be associated with spacing caches, encoding the spatial locations of caches, or creating a neuronal architecture involved in the recollection of cache sites. The factors controlling hippocampal plasticity in food-storing birds are not well understood. Photoperiodic manipulations that produce change in food-storing behaviour have no effect on either hippocampal size or neuronal recruitment. Available evidence suggests that changes in hippocampal size and neurogenesis may be a consequence of the behavioural and cognitive involvement of the hippocampus in storing and retrieving food.
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Affiliation(s)
- David F Sherry
- Department of Psychology, Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.
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21
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Response properties of avian hippocampal formation cells in an environment with unstable goal locations. Behav Brain Res 2008; 191:153-63. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2008.03.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2008] [Revised: 03/13/2008] [Accepted: 03/16/2008] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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Abstract
Following Hartley et al. (Hartley et al. (2000) Hippocampus 10:369-379), we present a simple feed-forward model of place cell (PC) firing predicated on neocortical information regarding the environmental geometry surrounding the animal. Incorporating the idea of boundaries with distinct sensory qualities, we show that synaptic plasticity mediated by a BCM-like rule (Bienenstock et al. (1982) J Neurosci 2:32-48) produces PCs that encode position relative to specific extended landmarks. In an unchanging environment the model is shown to undergo an initial phase of learning, resulting in the formation of stable place fields. In familiar environments, perturbation of environmental cues produces graded changes in the firing rate and position of place fields. Model simulations are compared favorably with three sets of experimental data: (1) Results published by Barry et al. (Barry et al. (2006) Rev Neurosci 17:71-97) showing the slow disappearance of duplicate place fields produced when a barrier is placed into a familiar environment. (2) Rivard et al.'s (Rivard et al. (2004) J Gen Physiol 124:9-25) study showing a graded response in PC firing such that fields near to a centrally placed object encode space relative to the object, whereas more distant fields respond to the surrounding environment. (3) Fenton et al.'s (Fenton et al. (2000a) J Gen Physiol 116:191-209) observation that inconsistent rotation of cue cards produces parametric changes in place field positions. The merits of the model are discussed in terms of its extensibility and biological plausibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caswell Barry
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, 17 Queen Square, London, United Kingdom.
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23
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Chapter 2.4 Episodic-like memory in food-hoarding birds. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2008. [DOI: 10.1016/s1569-7339(08)00212-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register]
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24
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Gagliardo A, Pecchia T, Savini M, Odetti F, Ioalè P, Vallortigara G. Olfactory lateralization in homing pigeons: initial orientation of birds receiving a unilateral olfactory input. Eur J Neurosci 2007; 25:1511-6. [PMID: 17425577 DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2007.05378.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
It has been shown that homing pigeons (Columba livia) rely on olfactory cues to navigate from unfamiliar locations. In fact, the integrity of the olfactory system, from the olfactory mucosa to the piriform cortex, is required for pigeons to navigate over unfamiliar areas. Recently it has been shown that there is a functional asymmetry in the piriform cortex, with the left piriform cortex more involved in the use of the olfactory navigational map than the right piriform cortex. To investigate further the lateralization of the olfactory system in relation to navigational processes in carrier pigeons, we compared their homing performance after either their left or the right nostril was plugged. Contrary to our expectations, we observed an impairment in the initial orientation of the pigeons with their right nostril plugged. However, both groups released with one nostril plugged tended to be poorer than control pigeons in their homing performance. The observed asymmetry in favour of the right nostril might be due to projections from the olfactory bulbs to the contralateral globus pallidum, a structure involved in motor responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Gagliardo
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Pisa, Via A.Volta 6, I-56126 Pisa, Italy.
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Nardi D, Bingman VP. Asymmetrical participation of the left and right hippocampus for representing environmental geometry in homing pigeons. Behav Brain Res 2007; 178:160-71. [PMID: 17215051 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2006.12.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2006] [Revised: 12/08/2006] [Accepted: 12/12/2006] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Control, right and left HF lesioned homing pigeons (Columba livia) were trained to locate a goal in one corner of a rectangular enclosure with a distinctive feature cue. Probe tests revealed that all groups were able to encode in parallel geometric (enclosure shape) and feature information, and in the absence of one of them, they could us the other to locate the goal. However, left HF lesioned pigeons learned the task at a faster rate, and when the geometric and feature information were set in conflict, they relied more on the feature cue compared to control and right HF lesioned pigeons. It was also found that pigeons, independent of group, trained to a goal adjacent to the feature cue learned the task in fewer sessions and relied more on feature information compared to pigeons trained to a goal opposite the feature cue. The latter group relied more on geometric information. The results support the hypothesis that the left HF plays a more important role in the representation of a goal location with respect to environmental shape/geometry. We further propose that the observed functional asymmetry can be explained by the lateralized properties of the pigeon tectofugal visual system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniele Nardi
- Department of Psychology, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403, USA.
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