title: Visual response properties of neurons in four areas of the avian pallium.
abstract: In the present study we investigate the visual responsiveness of neurons in the entopallium, arcopallium, nidopallium, and hippocampus of pigeons. Pigeons were presented with 12 different stimuli, including three stimuli of a pigeon (a portrait of a pigeon's face, a profile view of a pigeon's face, and a picture of a whole pigeon). A total of 53 cells were recorded from the entopallium, 65 from the arcopallium, 32 from the nidopallium, and 67 from the hippocampus. Although a number of neurons were selective for certain colours and shapes, no neurons were solely selective for the three pigeon stimuli. This finding contrasts with previous studies across a range of mammals demonstrating selective firing to images of conspecifics. Rather than reflecting an absence of these cells in pigeons, we argue our findings may reflect the difficulty pigeons have in understanding the correspondence between 2D representations of 3D stimuli.
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. damian@psy.otago.ac.nz.
authors: Damian
authors: D
authors: Scarf
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Stuart
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
authors: Melissa
authors: M
authors: Johnston
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. colombo@psy.otago.ac.nz.
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Colombo
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001931:Brain Mapping; D010856:Columbidae / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D003216:Conditioning, Operant; D009474:Neurons / Q000145:classification* / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011601:Psychophysics; D013687:Telencephalon / Q000166:cytology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Avian pallium; Face cell; Grandmother cell; Stimulus selective; Visually responsive