Delay activity in pigeon nidopallium caudolaterale during a variable-delay memory task.

Abstract

Neurons in the pigeon nidopallium caudolaterale (NCL) are important for the maintenance of information across delays as long as 3 s. In the current study, we recorded neural activity from the avian NCL of 3 birds trained on a working memory task with three different delay lengths intermixed within a session. We found that when the birds are unable to predict the upcoming delay length there is no evidence that NCL cells engage in temporal coding. Furthermore, delay activity did not differ between correct and incorrect trials. Both findings have implications for the function of delay activity and its role in supporting working memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).