Spatial information processing in the avian hippocampus

鸟类海马体的空间信息处理

• 批准号: RGPIN-2019-05936
• 负责人: Marrone, Diano
• 金额: $ 2.91万
• 依托单位: Wilfrid Laurier University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2019-01-01 至 2020-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=688044
• 关键词: Spatial; information; processing; avian; hippocampus

Spatial cognition (the ability to perceive, operate on, and recall information about spatial environments) is critical to the survival of any species. Accordingly, a wealth of research has investigated this vital form of cognition, focusing largely on mammals. This research shows that the hippocampal formation (HF) and surrounding cortical structures are critical for this kind of learning. Avian species also have the ability to solve advanced (e.g., food caching) and in many cases uniquely challenging (e.g., migration) spatial problems. Despite the sophisticated spatial repertoire that can be observed in birds, relatively little is known about the neural substrate of spatial learning in birds relative to mammals. While we know that birds have a HF and that lesions to the HF produce comparable deficits in spatial processing in both classes of animal, how spatial information is processed within the avian HF remains largely unknown. This is in part because the avian HF lacks many of the defining features of its mammalian counterpart, including clear trilaminar structure and a dominantly unidirectional tri-synaptic loop. In fact, even the subdivisions of the avian HF remain a matter of debate. We may be able to resolve this issue by defining the regions of the avian HF on the basis of their functional, rather than anatomical, homology. There are many experimental paradigms in which the pattern of activity in the HF of mammals (i.e., CA1, CA3, and the dentate gyrus) can be made to diverge. Probing activity-dependent gene expression across widespread regions of the avian HF in birds that are trained on comparable paradigms may provide critical insight into how avian species process spatial information.

空间认知（感知、操作和回忆空间环境信息的能力）对任何物种的生存都至关重要。 因此，大量的研究调查了这种重要的认知形式，主要集中在哺乳动物身上。这项研究表明，海马结构（HF）和周围的皮质结构是这种学习的关键。 鸟类物种也有能力解决高级问题（例如，食物储藏）并且在许多情况下具有独特的挑战性（例如，空间问题。尽管可以在鸟类中观察到复杂的空间库，但相对于哺乳动物，对鸟类空间学习的神经基质知之甚少。 虽然我们知道，鸟类有一个HF和HF的病变产生类似的缺陷，在这两类动物的空间处理，空间信息是如何处理的鸟类HF仍然在很大程度上是未知的。 这部分是因为鸟类HF缺乏其哺乳动物对应物的许多定义特征，包括清晰的三层结构和主要单向的三突触环。 事实上，即使是禽流感的细分仍然是一个有争议的问题。我们也许能够解决这个问题，通过定义的基础上，其功能，而不是解剖，同源性禽HF的区域。 存在许多实验范例，其中哺乳动物HF中的活动模式（即，CA1，CA3和齿状回）可以分开。探索活动依赖性基因表达的鸟类HF在鸟类的广泛地区，可比较的范式训练，可能会提供关键的洞察鸟类物种如何处理空间信息。