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: 2021
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2021-01-01 至 2022-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=738603
• 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、操作和回忆有关空间环境的信息的能力）对于任何物种的生存都至关重要。因此，大量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）和周围的皮质结构对于这种学习至关重要。鸟类物种还具有解决高级（例如食物储存）以及在许多情况下独特的挑战性（例如迁徙）空间问题的能力。尽管可以在鸟类中观察到复杂的空间能力，但相对于哺乳动物，人们对鸟类空间学习的神经基础知之甚少。虽然我们知道鸟类患有 HF，并且 HF 损伤会在两类动物中产生类似的空间处理缺陷，但鸟类 HF 内如何处理空间信息仍然很大程度上未知。部分原因是鸟类 HF 缺乏哺乳动物对应物的许多定义特征，包括清晰的三层结构和占主导地位的单向三突触环。事实上，即使是鸟类高频的细分仍然是一个有争议的问题。我们也许能够通过根据功能同源性（而不是解剖学同源性）定义鸟类 HF 区域来解决这个问题。有许多实验范式可以使哺乳动物的 HF 活动模式（即 CA1、CA3 和齿状回）发生变化。在受过类似范式训练的鸟类中，探测鸟类 HF 广泛区域的活动依赖性基因表达，可能会为鸟类如何处理空间信息提供重要的见解。