Timing of ascending and descending visual signals predicts the response mode of single cells in the thalamic nucleus rotundus of the pigeon (Columba livia)

Folta, Kristian; Troje, Nikolaus F.; Güntürkün, Onur

doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2006.11.034

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Although this is certainly not a strong proof of the conclusion of Qian & Güntürkün [22], it is conceivable that the changes observed in meta-control in our nine pigeons resulted from the loss of a left hemispheric advantage that resulted in biased interhemispheric interactions. If indeed neuronal speed differences cause the bias towards the right eye in metacontrol studies, the large individual differences may result from the fact that neurons show within the pigeon's visual system substantial latency differences between individual birds [22,[31][32][33].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Meta-Control in Pigeons (Columba livia) and the Role of the Commissura Anterior

2019

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Meta-control describes an interhemispheric response conflict that results from the perception of stimuli that elicit a different reaction in each hemisphere. The dominant hemisphere for the perceived stimulus class often wins this competition. There is evidence from pigeons that meta-control results from interhemispheric response conflicts that prolong reaction time when the animal is confronted with conflicting information. However, recent evidence in pigeons also makes it likely that the dominant hemisphere can slow down the subdominant hemisphere, such that meta-control could instead result from the interhemispheric speed differences. Since both explanations make different predictions for the effect of commissurotomy, we tested pigeons in a meta-control task both before and after transection of the commissura anterior. This fiber pathway is the largest pallial commissura of the avian brain. The results revealed a transient phase in which meta-control possibly resulted from interhemispheric response conflicts. In subsequent sessions and after commissurotomy, however, the results suggest interhemispheric speed differences as a basis for meta-control. Furthermore, they reveal that meta-control is modified by interhemispheric transmission via the commissura anterior, although it does not seem to depend on it.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Meta-Control in Pigeons (Columba livia) and the Role of the Commissura Anterior

2019

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“…3, label B; Güntürkün et al 1998;Letzner et al 2020). This tectofugal asymmetry of visual representation could meanwhile be verified behavioral (Güntürkün and Hahmann 1999;Valencia-Alfonso et al 2009) as well as electrophysiological techniques at thalamic (Folta et al 2004(Folta et al , 2007 and telencephalic levels (Verhaal et al 2012;Xiao and Güntürkün 2022). However, it is important to keep in mind that the tectofugal visual system is not only a feedforward pathway but also includes feedback loops.…”

Section: The Contributions Of the Asymmetric Avian Brainmentioning

confidence: 93%

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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“…Thus structural asymmetries that occur at brain stem and thalamic level of a sensory system make it likely that bottom-up signals are processed in a lateralized manner. Indeed, it was demonstrated that single units coding for ascending feedforward information within the nucleus rotundus show clearly different response patterns between left and right (136,137). 7A).…”

Section: B Lateralized Visual Feedforward and Feedback Circuits In Pi...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Brain Lateralization: A Comparative Perspective

Güntürkün

Ströckens

Ocklenburg

2020

Physiological Reviews

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277

188

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Comparative studies on brain asymmetry date back to the 19th century but then largely disappeared due to the assumption that lateralization is uniquely human. Since the reemergence of this field in the 1970s, we learned that left-right differences of brain and behavior exist throughout the animal kingdom and pay off in terms of sensory, cognitive, and motor efficiency. Ontogenetically, lateralization starts in many species with asymmetrical expression patterns of genes within the Nodal cascade that set up the scene for later complex interactions of genetic, environmental, and epigenetic factors. These take effect during different time points of ontogeny and create asymmetries of neural networks in diverse species. As a result, depending on task demands, left- or right-hemispheric loops of feedforward or feedback projections are then activated and can temporarily dominate a neural process. In addition, asymmetries of commissural transfer can shape lateralized processes in each hemisphere. It is still unclear if interhemispheric interactions depend on an inhibition/excitation dichotomy or instead adjust the contralateral temporal neural structure to delay the other hemisphere or synchronize with it during joint action. As outlined in our review, novel animal models and approaches could be established in the last decades, and they already produced a substantial increase of knowledge. Since there is practically no realm of human perception, cognition, emotion, or action that is not affected by our lateralized neural organization, insights from these comparative studies are crucial to understand the functions and pathologies of our asymmetric brain.

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Timing of ascending and descending visual signals predicts the response mode of single cells in the thalamic nucleus rotundus of the pigeon (Columba livia)

Cited by 6 publications

References 36 publications

Meta-Control in Pigeons (Columba livia) and the Role of the Commissura Anterior

Meta-Control in Pigeons (Columba livia) and the Role of the Commissura Anterior

Visual categories and concepts in the avian brain

Brain Lateralization: A Comparative Perspective

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