Cell-type specific pallial circuits shape categorical tuning responses in the crow telencephalon

Ditz, Helen M.; Fechner, Julia; Nieder, Andreas

doi:10.1038/s42003-022-03208-z

Cited by 10 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…4B). The results of Ditz et al (2022) in crows nicely overlap with those from pigeons. Like in crows, single unit recording studies in pigeon NCL and (pre)motor arcopallium reveal, that the inhibitory effect of the nonrewarded stimulus is faster and less precisely tuned than the excitatory effect of the rewarded one (Xiao and Güntürkün 2018;.…”

Section: Avian Categorization At Neural Level-a Mechanistic Summarysupporting

confidence: 62%

“…These reports were confirmed in many neurophysiological studies that involved the NCL in many of the typical prefrontal functions (Güntürkün et al 2021 ). To name a few examples, neural correlates of categorization (Kirsch et al 2009 ; Ditz et al 2022 ), working memory (Diekamp et al 2002a , b ; Hahn et al 2021 ; Veit et al 2014 ), executive control (Rose and Colombo 2005 ), reward processing (Koenen et al 2013 ; Packheiser et al 2021 ), numerosity (Wagener et al 2018 ), rules (Veit and Nieder 2013 ), and even sensory consciousness as the ability to be aware of a sensory event (Nieder et al 2020 ) have been discovered in NCL. Also, the neural ‘code’ found in the NCL largely follows the same principles as neural representations in the PFC.…”

Section: The Avian ‘Prefrontal Area’mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Visual categories and concepts in the avian brain

et al. 2022

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Birds are excellent model organisms to study perceptual categorization and concept formation. The renewed focus on avian neuroscience has sparked an explosion of new data in the field. At the same time, our understanding of sensory and particularly visual structures in the avian brain has shifted fundamentally. These recent discoveries have revealed how categorization is mediated in the avian brain and has generated a theoretical framework that goes beyond the realm of birds. We review the contribution of avian categorization research—at the methodical, behavioral, and neurobiological levels. To this end, we first introduce avian categorization from a behavioral perspective and the common elements model of categorization. Second, we describe the functional and structural organization of the avian visual system, followed by an overview of recent anatomical discoveries and the new perspective on the avian ‘visual cortex’. Third, we focus on the neurocomputational basis of perceptual categorization in the bird’s visual system. Fourth, an overview of the avian prefrontal cortex and the prefrontal contribution to perceptual categorization is provided. The fifth section outlines how asymmetries of the visual system contribute to categorization. Finally, we present a mechanistic view of the neural principles of avian visual categorization and its putative extension to concept learning.

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Section: Avian Categorization At Neural Level-a Mechanistic Summarysupporting

confidence: 62%

Section: The Avian ‘Prefrontal Area’mentioning

confidence: 99%

Visual categories and concepts in the avian brain

et al. 2022

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“…NCL neurons respond to incoming sensory information (Veit et al., 2014; Wagener & Nieder, 2017) and signal the conscious perception of sensory stimuli (Nieder et al., 2020). NCL neurons classify sensory stimuli into behaviorally meaningful categories, such as numbers of items (Ditz & Nieder, 2015, 2016b, 2020; Ditz et al., 2022; Kirschhock et al., 2021). Importantly, many NCL neurons temporarily maintain and manipulate information in working memory after the stimulus disappears (Hahn et al., 2021; Rinnert et al., 2019; Veit et al., 2014), and they encode learned associations between arbitrary stimuli across temporal gaps (Moll & Nieder, 2015; Veit et al., 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A brain atlas of the carrion crow (Corvus corone)

Kersten

Friedrich‐Müller

Nieder

2022

J of Comparative Neurology

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Corvidae, passerine songbirds such as jays, crows, and ravens known as corvids, have become model systems for the study of avian cognition. The superior cognitive capabilities of corvids mainly emerge from a disproportionally large telencephalon found in these species. However, a systematic mapping of the neuroanatomy of the corvid brain, and the telencephalon in particular, is lacking so far. Here, we present a brain atlas of the carrion crow, Corvus corone, with special emphasis on the telencephalic pallium. We applied four staining techniques to brain slices (Nissl, myelin, combination of Nissl and myelin, and tyrosine hydroxylase targeting catecholaminergic neurons). This allowed us to identify brain nuclei throughout the brain and delineate the known pallial subdivisions termed hyperpallium, entopallium, mesopallium, nidopallium, arcopallium, and hippocampal complex. The extent of these subdivisions and brain nuclei are described according to stereotaxic coordinates. In addition, 3D depictions of pallial regions were reconstructed from these slices. While the overall organization of the carrion crow's brain matches other songbird brains, the relative proportions and expansions of associative pallial areas differ considerably in agreement with enhanced cognitive skills found in corvids. The presented global organization of the crow brain in stereotaxic coordinates will help to guide future neurobiological studies in corvids.

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“…Moreover, single-cell transcriptomics data of reptiles and birds also suggested the presence of conserved regions and cell types in the amniote pallium ( Tosches et al, 2018 ; Colquitt et al, 2021 ). Further research would clarify whether these cell types in the turtles constitute a similar circuit structure to the mammalian neocortex as demonstrated in birds ( Spool et al, 2021 ; Ditz et al, 2022 ).…”

Section: Palliummentioning

confidence: 93%

“…However, the adult avian and reptilian brains lack the mammalian-like pallial region. Nonetheless, pallial structures in the adult avian and reptilian brains still conserve several characteristics of the mammalian pallium, such as neurons in the pallium are predominantly excitatory and less inhibitory ( Medina and Reiner, 2000 ; Medina, 2007 ; Suryanarayana et al, 2017 ; Spool et al, 2021 ; Ditz et al, 2022 ). The principal pallial neurons are glutamatergic, as demonstrated by the examination of the expression pattern of VGLUT1 and VGLUT2 in adult mammalian brains ( Ni et al, 1995 ; Fremeau et al, 2001 ; Broman et al, 2004 ) and by the localization of VGLUT2 in adult avian brains ( Islam and Atoji, 2008 ; Karim et al, 2014 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Glutamatergic pathways in the brains of turtles: A comparative perspective among reptiles, birds, and mammals

2022

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Glutamate acts as the main excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain and plays a vital role in physiological and pathological neuronal functions. In mammals, glutamate can cause detrimental excitotoxic effects under anoxic conditions. In contrast, Trachemys scripta, a freshwater turtle, is one of the most anoxia-tolerant animals, being able to survive up to months without oxygen. Therefore, turtles have been investigated to assess the molecular mechanisms of neuroprotective strategies used by them in anoxic conditions, such as maintaining low levels of glutamate, increasing adenosine and GABA, upregulating heat shock proteins, and downregulating KATP channels. These mechanisms of anoxia tolerance of the turtle brain may be applied to finding therapeutics for human glutamatergic neurological disorders such as brain injury or cerebral stroke due to ischemia. Despite the importance of glutamate as a neurotransmitter and of the turtle as an ideal research model, the glutamatergic circuits in the turtle brain remain less described whereas they have been well studied in mammalian and avian brains. In reptiles, particularly in the turtle brain, glutamatergic neurons have been identified by examining the expression of vesicular glutamate transporters (VGLUTs). In certain areas of the brain, some ionotropic glutamate receptors (GluRs) have been immunohistochemically studied, implying that there are glutamatergic target areas. Based on the expression patterns of these glutamate-related molecules and fiber connection data of the turtle brain that is available in the literature, many candidate glutamatergic circuits could be clarified, such as the olfactory circuit, hippocampal–septal pathway, corticostriatal pathway, visual pathway, auditory pathway, and granule cell–Purkinje cell pathway. This review summarizes the probable glutamatergic pathways and the distribution of glutamatergic neurons in the pallium of the turtle brain and compares them with those of avian and mammalian brains. The integrated knowledge of glutamatergic pathways serves as the fundamental basis for further functional studies in the turtle brain, which would provide insights on physiological and pathological mechanisms of glutamate regulation as well as neural circuits in different species.

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Cell-type specific pallial circuits shape categorical tuning responses in the crow telencephalon

Cited by 10 publications

References 69 publications

Visual categories and concepts in the avian brain

Visual categories and concepts in the avian brain

A brain atlas of the carrion crow (Corvus corone)

Glutamatergic pathways in the brains of turtles: A comparative perspective among reptiles, birds, and mammals

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