Memory of radial maze behavior in pigeons after ablations of the presumed equivalent of mammalian prefrontal cortex.
Pigeons were trained and postoperatively tested in an 8-arm radial maze in which 1 arm was always used for start, 3 were never baited, and 4 were always baited. Of 2 groups of pigeons, 1 (n = 6) received ablations of the postero-dorso-lateral neostriatum (PDLNS) as well as the corticoid, and the other (n = 8) was sham operated. After the surgery, in the PDLNS group the number of reference memory errors (entering the never-baited arms) was significantly increased, but the number of working memory errors (entering previously visited baited arms) was not. Two of 6 pigeons with PDLNS ablations did not show any impairment, 3 were impaired in the reference memory, and 1 was impaired in working memory. This outcome resembles behavioral effects obtained in rats with prefrontal lesions. In pigeons and rats, the lesion seems to "release" the normal "win-shift" tendency and/or impair the ability to choose correctly in simultaneous multiple-choice situations.
Gagliardo
A
A
Dipartimento di Scienze del Comportamento Animale e dell'Uomo, Pisa, Italy.
Mazzotto
M
M
Divac
I
I
D000818:Animals; D001070:Appetitive Behavior; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D010856:Columbidae / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D009042:Motivation; D017072:Neostriatum / Q000502:physiology*; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology*; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D012153:Retention, Psychology / Q000502:physiology; D013045:Species Specificity