Categorical Auditory Working Memory in Crows

Wagener, Lysann; Nieder, Andreas

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2020.101737

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…Although we only review studies that used visual stimuli, there is strong evidence from experiments using human participants that categorization of visual and tactile objects generates highly similar veridical perceptual spaces to form overlapping object categorization processes (Tabrik et al 2021). Studies in corvids also show that auditory categorization follows highly similar principles to the visual system (Wagener and Nieder 2020).…”

Section: Birds Master a Sheer Endless Variety Of Perceptual Categoriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visual categories and concepts in the avian brain

et al. 2022

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Birds are excellent model organisms to study perceptual categorization and concept formation. The renewed focus on avian neuroscience has sparked an explosion of new data in the field. At the same time, our understanding of sensory and particularly visual structures in the avian brain has shifted fundamentally. These recent discoveries have revealed how categorization is mediated in the avian brain and has generated a theoretical framework that goes beyond the realm of birds. We review the contribution of avian categorization research—at the methodical, behavioral, and neurobiological levels. To this end, we first introduce avian categorization from a behavioral perspective and the common elements model of categorization. Second, we describe the functional and structural organization of the avian visual system, followed by an overview of recent anatomical discoveries and the new perspective on the avian ‘visual cortex’. Third, we focus on the neurocomputational basis of perceptual categorization in the bird’s visual system. Fourth, an overview of the avian prefrontal cortex and the prefrontal contribution to perceptual categorization is provided. The fifth section outlines how asymmetries of the visual system contribute to categorization. Finally, we present a mechanistic view of the neural principles of avian visual categorization and its putative extension to concept learning.

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Section: Birds Master a Sheer Endless Variety Of Perceptual Categoriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visual categories and concepts in the avian brain

et al. 2022

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“…Certainly, there are examples of neocortex‐like coding in DVR, such as the study of visual feature extraction in DVR by Azizi et al. (2019), and the studies showing resemblance of neuronal coding in the caudolateral nidopallium to that in mammalian prefrontal cortex (Hahn et al., 2021; Nieder, 2017; Nieder et al., 2020; Wagener & Nieder, 2020), but most studies that have been done have emphasized similarities rather than differences between birds and mammals. The inefficiency should be most manifest for the projections from the layer 2/3‐like sensory belt regions of DVR to the layer 5a‐like neurons of dorsolateral pallium, and the projection from these layer 5a‐like neurons to the layer 5b/6 neurons of arcopallium.…”

Section: Conclusion and Approaches For Falsifying Current Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Could theropod dinosaurs have evolved to a human level of intelligence?

Reiner

2023

J of Comparative Neurology

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Noting that some theropod dinosaurs had large brains, large grasping hands, and likely binocular vision, paleontologist Dale Russell suggested that a branch of these dinosaurs might have evolved to a human intelligence level, had dinosaurs not become extinct. I offer reasons why the likely pallial organization in dinosaurs would have made this improbable, based on four assumptions. First, it is assumed that achieving human intelligence requires evolving an equivalent of the about 200 functionally specialized cortical areas characteristic of humans. Second, it is assumed that dinosaurs had an avian nuclear type of pallial organization, in contrast to the mammalian cortical organization. Third, it is assumed that the interactions between the different neuron types making up an information processing unit within pallium are critical to its role in analyzing information. Finally, it is assumed that increasing axonal length between the neuron sets carrying out this operation impairs its efficacy. Based on these assumptions, I present two main reasons why dinosaur pallium might have been unable to add the equivalent of 200 efficiently functioning cortical areas. First, a nuclear pattern of pallial organization would require increasing distances between the neuron groups corresponding to the separate layers of any given mammalian cortical area, as more sets of nuclei equivalent to a cortical area are interposed between the existing sets, increasing axon length and thereby impairing processing efficiency. Second, because of its nuclear organization, dinosaur pallium could not reduce axon length by folding to bring adjacent areas closer together, as occurs in cerebral cortex.

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Jackdaws form categorical prototypes based on experience with category exemplars

2023

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Categorization represents one cognitive ability fundamental to animal behavior. Grouping of elements based on perceptual or semantic features helps to reduce processing resources and facilitates appropriate behavior. Corvids master complex categorization, yet the detailed categorization learning strategies are less well understood. We trained two jackdaws on a delayed match to category paradigm using a novel, artificial stimulus type, RUBubbles. Both birds learned to differentiate between two session-unique categories following two distinct learning protocols. Categories were either introduced via central category prototypes (low variability approach) or using a subset of diverse category exemplars from which diagnostic features had to be identified (high variability approach). In both versions, the stimulus similarity relative to a central category prototype explained categorization performance best. Jackdaws consistently used a central prototype to judge category membership, regardless of whether this prototype was used to introduce distinct categories or had to be inferred from multiple exemplars. Reliance on a category prototype occurred already after experiencing only a few trials with different category exemplars. High stimulus set variability prolonged initial learning but showed no consistent beneficial effect on later generalization performance. High numbers of stimuli, their perceptual similarity, and coherent category structure resulted in a prototype-based strategy, reflecting the most adaptive, efficient, and parsimonious way to represent RUBubble categories. Thus, our birds represent a valuable comparative animal model that permits further study of category representations throughout learning in different regions of a brain producing highly cognitive behavior. Graphical abstract

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Categorical Auditory Working Memory in Crows

Cited by 7 publications

References 56 publications

Visual categories and concepts in the avian brain

Visual categories and concepts in the avian brain

Could theropod dinosaurs have evolved to a human level of intelligence?

Jackdaws form categorical prototypes based on experience with category exemplars

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