Archistriatal Lesions Impair the Acquisition of Filial Preferences During Imprinting in the Domestic Chick

Abstract

The avian archistriatum has been demonstrated to play a role in agonistic behaviours and avoidance learning. However, the extent of its role in learning is unknown. The involvement of the archistriatum in the learning process of filial imprinting was therefore investigated in day-old chicks. Bilateral archistriatal lesions, lateral cerebral area lesions or sham archistriatal penetrations were made in dark-reared, day-old chicks, which were subsequently exposed to either a rotating red box or blue cylinder for 2 x 1 h training sessions. Three hours later, the approach of chicks to their training object and to the other, novel object was measured. Chicks with archistriatal lesions ran a similar distance towards each stimulus and therefore failed to display a preference for their training object. However, chicks with sham archistriatal penetrations or lateral cerebral area lesions exhibited a significant preference for the object they had been trained upon. These results demonstrate that the archistriatum is essential for the expression of an imprinted preference. All chicks approached their training object significantly more on their second compared to their first training exposure, suggesting that some aspects of imprinting behaviour remain intact in chicks with archistriatal lesions. Taken together with the results of previous work, the current data suggest that the archistriatum may be involved in retention of significant aspects of the imprinting experience, or in motivation to approach imprinting objects.

Organization and efferent connections of the archistriatum of the mallard,Anas platyrhynchos L.: An anterograde and retrograde tracing study

“…In mammals, the amygdala has an important role in the expression of (conditioned) fear (e.g., discussion in Davis et al, 1994). In chickens, the amygdaloid part of the archistriatum forms part of the system for filial imprinting (Lowndes et al, 1994). In an evoked potential study, Phillips (1966) showed that there is no multisensory but only visual input to this part of the archistriatum.…”

Neural basis of imprinting behavior in chicks

“…The information integrated in the IMM is mainly transmitted to the amygdala, then to a dopaminergic nucleus, the medial striatum (MSt, formerly referred to as the lobus parolfactorius) Davies et al 1997;Schnabel et al 1997;Csillag 1999;Matsushima et al 2001;Metzger et al 2002). The amygdala and MSt are crucial for imprinting (Lowndes et al 1994;Izawa et al 2001), and some regions of the nidopallium receive input from the dopaminergic neurons of the MSt (Schnabel et al 1997;Metzger et al 2002). Thus, although the afferent pathways into the VW and the efferent pathways from the IMM are well defined, the anatomical connection between the VW and IMM were only recently clarified.…”

“…The amygdala and MSt are crucial for imprinting (Lowndes et al . ; Izawa et al . ), and some regions of the nidopallium receive input from the dopaminergic neurons of the MSt (Schnabel et al .…”

Nucleus Taenia of the Amygdala of Birds: Anatomical and Functional Studies in Ring Doves <i>(Streptopelia risoria)</i> and European Starlings <i>(Sturnus vulgaris)</i>

“…The medial hyperstriatum ventrale in chicks has been implicated in filial imprinting and one-trial passive-reward learning [Rose, 1991]. Reciprocal connections between the hyperstriatum ventrale and the amygdala in birds lend some credence to the idea that the amygdala plays a role in motivational aspects of the learning process [Lowndes et al, 1994].…”