Out of context: NMDA receptor antagonism in the avian 'prefrontal cortex' impairs context processing in a conditional discrimination task.
Processing of context information is implicated in prefrontal functions as response selection or attention. N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors in the mammalian prefrontal cortex (PFC) and in the nidopallium caudolaterale (NCL) of birds, the avian functional equivalent of the PFC, are involved in learning, which also requires processing of context. The authors investigated the role of NMDA receptors in the pigeon (Columba livia) NCL for context processing and response selection in a simultaneous-matching-to-sample task with 2 trial types, requiring either processing of context information, delivered by a conditional stimulus (context dependent), or only recall of a stimulus-response association (fixed response). The competitive NMDA antagonist DL-2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid impaired performance only in context-dependent trials. Therefore, NMDA receptors in the avian PFC participate in response selection requiring context processing rather than in response selection per se.
Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Department of Biopsychology, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Germany. silke.lissek@ruhr-uni-bochum.de
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Güntürkün
D015763:2-Amino-5-phosphonovalerate / Q000494:pharmacology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000187:drug effects; D003118:Color Perception; D010856:Columbidae; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000187:drug effects*; D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000187:drug effects*; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000187:drug effects*; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000502:physiology*
D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; D015763:2-Amino-5-phosphonovalerate