Abstract rule neurons in the endbrain support intelligent behaviour in corvid songbirds
Abstract rule neurons in the endbrain support intelligent behaviour in corvid songbirds
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DOI：
10.1038/ncomms3878
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发表时间：
2013-11
影响因子：
16.6
通讯作者：
Lena Veit;A. Nieder
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Lena Veit;A. Nieder
尽管与哺乳动物相比，鸟类缺乏分层的新皮层，端脑组织也存在根本差异，但智能物种是从这两种脊椎动物进化而来的。在鸟类中，鸦科动物表现出非凡的认知灵活性。在这里，我们探索corvid认知的神经元基础，通过记录被称为nidopallium caudolaterale（NCL）的关联区域的单单位活动，而腐肉乌鸦作出灵活的规则指导的决定，执行控制功能的标志。NCL中最普遍的活动代表了行为规则，同时抽象了规则线索的样本图像和感觉模态。规则编码在错误试验中较弱，因此可以预测乌鸦的行为决定。这表明，一般原则的抽象可能是NCL的一个重要功能，反映了灵长类前额叶皮层的功能。这些发现强调，脊椎动物的智力并不一定依赖于新皮层，而是可以在通过趋同进化独立发展的端脑回路中实现。
Despite the lack of a layered neocortex and fundamental differences in endbrain organization in birds compared with mammals, intelligent species evolved from both vertebrate classes. Among birds, corvids show exceptional cognitive flexibility. Here we explore the neuronal foundation of corvid cognition by recording single-unit activity from an association area known as the nidopallium caudolaterale (NCL) while carrion crows make flexible rule-guided decisions, a hallmark of executive control functions. The most prevalent activity in NCL represents the behavioural rules, while abstracting over sample images and sensory modalities of the rule cues. Rule coding is weaker in error trials, thus predicting the crows’ behavioural decisions. This suggests that the abstraction of general principles may be an important function of the NCL, mirroring the function of primate prefrontal cortex. These findings emphasize that intelligence in vertebrates does not necessarily rely on a neocortex but can be realized in endbrain circuitries that developed independently via convergent evolution.