Neurons in the crow nidopallium caudolaterale encode varying durations of visual working memory periods
Neurons in the crow nidopallium caudolaterale encode varying durations of visual working memory periods
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DOI：
10.1007/s00221-017-5120-3
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发表时间：
2018-01-01
影响因子：
2
通讯作者：
Nieder, Andreas
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Hartmann, Konstantin;Veit, Lena;Nieder, Andreas
适应性序列行为依赖于时间上分离的信息的桥接和整合，以实现预期的目标。鸦科动物非凡的行为灵活性被认为取决于尾外侧巢蛋白（NCL）的工作，这是一个高级的鸟类联合前脑区域。我们训练腐肉乌鸦记住视觉项目的三个交替延迟持续时间在延迟匹配到样本的任务，并记录从NCL的单单位活动。样本选择性延迟活动（与视觉工作记忆相关）在不同的工作记忆持续时间内得到维持。延迟响应保持选择性相同的首选样本项目在不同的延迟持续时间的块。然而，选择性的强度随着延迟持续时间的增加而下降，反映了较长的记忆延迟会使行为表现恶化。延迟活动的行为相关性进一步证明了减少编码的首选样本项目在错误试验。此外，NCL神经元的时间依赖性放电适应不同的记忆持续时间的块，因此延迟持续时间可以成功地分类基于人口活动后的延迟持续时间切换几次试验。因此，NCL神经元不仅保持来自单个试验的信息，而且还跟踪任务背景下需要这些信息的持续时间。这些结果加强了corvid NCL在维持工作记忆中的作用，以灵活控制时间延长的目标导向行为。
Adaptive sequential behaviors rely on the bridging and integration of temporally separate information for the realization of prospective goals. Corvids' remarkable behavioral flexibility is thought to depend on the workings of the nidopallium caudolaterale (NCL), a high-level avian associative forebrain area. We trained carrion crows to remember visual items for three alternating delay durations in a delayed match-to-sample task and recorded single-unit activity from the NCL. Sample-selective delay activity, a correlate of visual working memory, was maintained throughout different working memory durations. Delay responses remained selective for the same preferred sample item across blocks with different delay durations. However, selectivity strength decreased with increasing delay durations, mirroring worsened behavioral performance with longer memory delays. Behavioral relevance of delay activity was further evidenced by reduced encoding of the preferred sample item during error trials. In addition, NCL neurons adapted their time-dependent discharges to blocks of different memory durations, so that delay duration could be successfully classified based on population activity a few trials after the delay duration switched. Therefore, NCL neurons not only maintain information from individual trials, but also keep track of the duration for which this information is needed in the context of the task. These results strengthen the role of corvid NCL in maintaining working memory for flexible control of temporally extended goal-directed behavior.