Abstract
Previous work demonstrates that nidopallium caudolaterale, which is considered to be an analog of the mammalian prefrontal cortex, participates in goal-directed navigation in pigeons. However, its role remains unclear. To clarify its role, two goal-directed navigation tasks in plus-maze were designed, in which the goal location of one is random, and the other is fixed, i.e., the random-goal task and the fixed-goal task. The animals were trained to run from the starting location to the goal location in accordance with the cue in the plus-maze. The goal location is variable for the random-goal task but unchanged for the fixed-goal task. The results have demonstrated that the time point of nidopallium caudolaterale neuron response is consistent with decision-making. During the decision-making, the firing rates significantly increased in two tasks, which can also decode the direction of upcoming movement in the random-goal task. However, the location of decision-making is different between the tasks mentioned above. The decision-making window is at the intersection in the random-goal task, which is a departure in the fixed-goal task. In addition, these results also provide evidence that the neural activities obtained from the nidopallium caudolaterale may contain the decision-making information during goal-directed navigation. These results suggest that the avian nidopallium caudolaterale and the mammalian prefrontal cortex may play a similar role in goal-directed spatial decision-making. Additionally, these also may provide some support to understand the neural mechanism of decision-making for different species.
Highlights
Most animals can navigate to the desired location by using information about environmental landmarks and their movements in nature
The firing rates in the window before sensor 2 in the returning are significantly higher than those in the window before sensor 1 in the going. These results have shown that the nidopallium caudolaterale (NCL) neural activities may be related to the decision-making in goal-directed navigation
In terms of all subjects, the firing rates before sensor 1 are significantly higher than those before sensor 2. These results further suggest that the NCL neural activities may be related to the decision-making during goal-directed navigation tasks
Summary
Most animals can navigate to the desired location by using information about environmental landmarks and their movements in nature. The behavior divined by a specific goal is often goal-directed navigation [1]. Goal-directed navigation is a complex behavior that requires the subject to perceive its environment, learn about its significance, and select where to go based upon what has already been learned. Hok et al [6] reported that PFC neurons expressed sustained activity in a goal-directed navigation task at the goal zone. Lesions of the PFC cause impairments in goal-directed behavior [7]. As the analog of the mammalian PFC, the role of avian nidopallium caudolaterale (NCL) in goal-directed navigation remains unclear
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