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Cioccarelli S, Giunchi D, Pollonara E, Casini G, Bingman VP, Gagliardo A. GPS tracking technology and re-visiting the relationship between the avian visual Wulst and homing pigeon navigation. Behav Brain Res 2024; 465:114971. [PMID: 38552743 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2024.114971] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2024] [Revised: 03/14/2024] [Accepted: 03/24/2024] [Indexed: 04/01/2024]
Abstract
Within their familiar areas homing pigeons rely on familiar visual landscape features and landmarks for homing. However, the neural basis of visual landmark-based navigation has been so far investigated mainly in relation to the role of the hippocampal formation. The avian visual Wulst is the telencephalic projection field of the thalamofugal pathway that has been suggested to be involved in processing lateral visual inputs that originate from the far visual field. The Wulst is therefore a good candidate for a neural structure participating in the visual control of familiar visual landmark-based navigation. We repeatedly released and tracked Wulst-lesioned and control homing pigeons from three sites about 10-15 km from the loft. Wulst lesions did not impair the ability of the pigeons to orient homeward during the first release from each of the three sites nor to localise the loft within the home area. In addition, Wulst-lesioned pigeons displayed unimpaired route fidelity acquisition to a repeated homing path compared to the intact birds. However, compared to control birds, Wulst-lesioned pigeons displayed persistent oscillatory flight patterns across releases, diminished attention to linear (leading lines) landscape features, such as roads and wood edges, and less direct flight paths within the home area. Differences and similarities between the effects of Wulst and hippocampal lesions suggest that although the visual Wulst does not seem to play a direct role in the memory representation of a landscape-landmark map, it does seem to participate in influencing the perceptual construction of such a map.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Dimitri Giunchi
- Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Pisa 56126, Italy
| | | | - Giovanni Casini
- Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Pisa 56126, Italy
| | - Verner P Bingman
- Department of Psychology, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403, USA; J. P. Scott Center for Neuroscience, Mind and Behavior, Bowling Green, OH 43403, USA
| | - Anna Gagliardo
- Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Pisa 56126, Italy.
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2
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Understanding hippocampal neural plasticity in captivity: Unique contributions of spatial specialists. Learn Behav 2022; 50:55-70. [PMID: 35237946 DOI: 10.3758/s13420-021-00504-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/22/2021] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Neural plasticity in the hippocampus has been studied in a wide variety of model systems, including in avian species where the hippocampus underlies specialized spatial behaviours. Examples of such behaviours include navigating to a home roost over long distances by homing pigeons or returning to a potential nest site for egg deposit by brood parasites. The best studied example, however, is food storing in parids and the interaction between this behaviour and changes in hippocampus volume and neurogenesis. However, understanding the interaction between brain and behaviour necessitates research that includes studies with at least some form of captivity, which may itself affect hippocampal plasticity. Captivity might particularly affect spatial specialists where free-ranging movement on a large scale is especially important in daily, and seasonal, behaviours. This review examines how captivity might affect hippocampal plasticity in avian spatial specialists and specifically food-storing parids, and also considers how the effects of captivity may be mitigated by researchers studying hippocampal plasticity when the goal is understanding the relationship between behaviour and hippocampal change.
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3
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Mao J, Hu X, Zhang L, He X, Milford M. A Bio-Inspired Goal-Directed Visual Navigation Model for Aerial Mobile Robots. J INTELL ROBOT SYST 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s10846-020-01190-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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4
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Shao Y, Tian HY, Zhang JJ, Kharrati-Koopaee H, Guo X, Zhuang XL, Li ML, Nanaie HA, Dehghani Tafti E, Shojaei B, Reza Namavar M, Sotoudeh N, Oluwakemi Ayoola A, Li JL, Liang B, Esmailizadeh A, Wang S, Wu DD. Genomic and Phenotypic Analyses Reveal Mechanisms Underlying Homing Ability in Pigeon. Mol Biol Evol 2020; 37:134-148. [PMID: 31501895 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msz208] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
The homing pigeon was selectively bred from the domestic pigeon for a homing ability over long distances, a very fascinating but complex behavioral trait. Here, we generate a total of 95 whole genomes from diverse pigeon breeds. Comparing the genomes from the homing pigeon population with those from other breeds identifies candidate positively selected genes, including many genes involved in the central nervous system, particularly spatial learning and memory such as LRP8. Expression profiling reveals many neuronal genes displaying differential expression in the hippocampus, which is the key organ for memory and navigation and exhibits significantly larger size in the homing pigeon. In addition, we uncover a candidate gene GSR (encoding glutathione-disulfide reductase) experiencing positive selection in the homing pigeon. Expression profiling finds that GSR is highly expressed in the wattle and visual pigment cell layer, and displays increased expression levels in the homing pigeon. In vitro, a magnetic field stimulates increases in calcium ion concentration in cells expressing pigeon GSR. These findings support the importance of the hippocampus (functioning in spatial memory and navigation) for homing ability, and the potential involvement of GSR in pigeon magnetoreception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yong Shao
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
| | - Hang-Yu Tian
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.,Kunming College of Life Science, University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
| | - Jing-Jing Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Animal Models and Human Disease Mechanisms, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.,Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, China
| | - Hamed Kharrati-Koopaee
- Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran.,Institute of Biotechnology, School of Agriculture, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
| | - Xing Guo
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China
| | - Xiao-Lin Zhuang
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.,Kunming College of Life Science, University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
| | - Ming-Li Li
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.,Kunming College of Life Science, University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
| | | | - Elahe Dehghani Tafti
- Department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran
| | - Bahador Shojaei
- Department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran
| | - Mohammad Reza Namavar
- Clinical Neurology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.,Histomorphometry and Stereology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Science, Shiraz, Iran
| | - Narges Sotoudeh
- Clinical Neurology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.,Anatomy Department, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
| | - Adeola Oluwakemi Ayoola
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.,Kunming College of Life Science, University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
| | - Jia-Li Li
- Key Laboratory of Animal Models and Human Disease Mechanisms, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.,Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
| | - Bin Liang
- Key Laboratory of Animal Models and Human Disease Mechanisms, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.,Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
| | - Ali Esmailizadeh
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.,Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran
| | - Shu Wang
- School of Basic Medical Sciences, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Dong-Dong Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.,Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
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5
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Jacobs LF. The navigational nose: a new hypothesis for the function of the human external pyramid. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2019; 222:222/Suppl_1/jeb186924. [PMID: 30728230 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.186924] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
One of the outstanding questions in evolution is why Homo erectus became the first primate species to evolve the external pyramid, i.e. an external nose. The accepted hypothesis for this trait has been its role in respiration, to warm and humidify air as it is inspired. However, new studies testing the key assumptions of the conditioning hypothesis, such as the importance of turbulence to enhance heat and moisture exchange, have called this hypothesis into question. The human nose has two functions, however, respiration and olfaction. It is thus also possible that the external nose evolved in response to selection for olfaction. The genus Homo had many adaptations for long-distance locomotion, which allowed Homo erectus to greatly expand its species range, from Africa to Asia. Long-distance navigation in birds and other species is often accomplished by orientation to environmental odors. Such olfactory navigation, in turn, is enhanced by stereo olfaction, made possible by the separation of the olfactory sensors. By these principles, the human external nose could have evolved to separate olfactory inputs to enhance stereo olfaction. This could also explain why nose shape later became so variable: as humans became more sedentary in the Neolithic, a decreasing need for long-distance movements could have been replaced by selection for other olfactory functions, such as detecting disease, that would have been critical to survival in newly dense human settlements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucia F Jacobs
- Department of Psychology and Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, 2121 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, CA 94720-1650, USA
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6
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Prefrontal–hippocampal interactions for spatial navigation. Neurosci Res 2018; 129:2-7. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neures.2017.04.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2017] [Revised: 04/26/2017] [Accepted: 04/28/2017] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
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7
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The orientation of homing pigeons (Columba livia f.d.) with and without navigational experience in a two-dimensional environment. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0188483. [PMID: 29176875 PMCID: PMC5703563 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0188483] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2017] [Accepted: 11/08/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Homing pigeons are known for their excellent homing ability, and their brains seem to be functionally adapted to homing. It is known that pigeons with navigational experience show a larger hippocampus and also a more lateralised brain than pigeons without navigational experience. So we hypothesized that experience may have an influence also on orientation ability. We examined two groups of pigeons (11 with navigational experience and 17 without) in a standard operant chamber with a touch screen monitor showing a 2-D schematic of a rectangular environment (as “geometric” information) and one uniquely shaped and colored feature in each corner (as “landmark” information). Pigeons were trained first for pecking on one of these features and then we examined their ability to encode geometric and landmark information in four tests by modifying the rectangular environment. All tests were done under binocular and monocular viewing to test hemispheric dominance. The number of pecks was counted for analysis. Results show that generally both groups orientate on the basis of landmarks and the geometry of environment, but landmark information was preferred. Pigeons with navigational experience did not perform better on the tests but showed a better conjunction of the different kinds of information. Significant differences between monocular and binocular viewing were detected particularly in pigeons without navigational experience on two tests with reduced information. Our data suggest that the conjunction of geometric and landmark information might be integrated after processing separately in each hemisphere and that this process is influenced by experience.
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8
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Rothschild BM, Naples V. Apparent sixth sense in theropod evolution: The making of a Cretaceous weathervane. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0187064. [PMID: 29095949 PMCID: PMC5667833 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0187064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2017] [Accepted: 10/12/2017] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Objective Two separate and distinctive skills are necessary to find prey: Detection of its presence and determination of its location. Surface microscopy of the dentary of albertosaurines revealed a previously undescribed sensory modification, as will be described here. While dentary “foramina” were previously thought to contain tactile sensory organs, the potential function of this theropod modification as a unique localizing system is explored in this study. Method Dentary surface perforations were examined by surface epi-illumination microscopy in tyrannosaurine and albertosaurine dinosaurs to characterize their anatomy. Fish lateral lines were examined as potentially comparable structures. Result In contrast to the subsurface vascular bifurcation noted in tyrannosaurines (which lack a lateral dentary surface groove), the area subjacent to the apertures in albertosaurine grooves has the appearance of an expanded chamber. That appearance seemed to be indistinguishable from the lateral line of fish. Conclusion Dentary groove apertures in certain tyrannosaurid lines (specifically albertosaurines) not only have a unique appearance, but one with significant functional and behavior implications. The appearance of the perforations in the dentary groove of albertosaurines mirrors that previously noted only with specialized neurologic structures accommodating derived sensory functions, as seen in the lateral line of fish. The possibility that this specialized morphology could also represent a unique function in albertosaurine theropods for interacting with the environment or facilitating prey acquisition cannot be ignored. It is suggested that these expanded chambers function in perceiving and aligning the body relative to the direction of wind, perhaps a Cretaceous analogue of the contemporary midwestern weathervane.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruce M Rothschild
- West Virginia University College of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Morgantown, West Virginia United States of America.,Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Virginia Naples
- Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois, United States of America
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9
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Barkan S, Yom-Tov Y, Barnea A. Exploring the Relationship between Brain Plasticity, Migratory Lifestyle, and Social Structure in Birds. Front Neurosci 2017; 11:139. [PMID: 28396621 PMCID: PMC5367377 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2017.00139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2016] [Accepted: 03/07/2017] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies in Passerines have found that migrating species recruit more new neurons into brain regions that process spatial information, compared with resident species. This was explained by the greater exposure of migrants to spatial information, indicating that this phenomenon enables enhanced navigational abilities. The aim of the current study was to test this hypothesis in another order-the Columbiformes - using two closely-related dove species-the migrant turtle-dove (Streptopelia turtur) and the resident laughing dove (S. senegalensis), during spring, summer, and autumn. Wild birds were caught, treated with BrdU, and sacrificed 5 weeks later. New neurons were recorded in the hyperpallium apicale, hippocampus and nidopallium caudolaterale regions. We found that in doves, unlike passerines, neuronal recruitment was lower in brains of the migratory species compared with the resident one. This might be due to the high sociality of doves, which forage and migrate in flocks, and therefore can rely on communal spatial knowledge that might enable a reduction in individual navigation efforts. This, in turn, might enable reduced levels of neuronal recruitment. Additionally, we found that unlike in passerines, seasonality does not affect neuronal recruitment in doves. This might be due to their non-territorial and explorative behavior, which exposes them to substantial spatial information all year round. Finally, we discuss the differences in neuronal recruitment between Columbiformes and Passeriformes and their possible evolutionary explanations. Our study emphasizes the need to further investigate this phenomenon in other avian orders and in additional species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shay Barkan
- Department of Zoology, Tel-Aviv University Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Yoram Yom-Tov
- Department of Zoology, Tel-Aviv University Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Anat Barnea
- Department of Natural and Life Sciences, The Open University of Israel Ra'anana, Israel
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10
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Mazengenya P, Bhagwandin A, Nkomozepi P, Manger PR, Ihunwo AO. Putative adult neurogenesis in two domestic pigeon breeds (Columba livia domestica): racing homer versus utility carneau pigeons. Neural Regen Res 2017; 12:1086-1096. [PMID: 28852390 PMCID: PMC5558487 DOI: 10.4103/1673-5374.211187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Generation of neurons in the brains of adult birds has been studied extensively in the telencephalon of song birds and few studies are reported on the distribution of PCNA and DCX in the telencephalon of adult non-song learning birds. We report here on adult neurogenesis throughout the brains of two breeds of adult domestic pigeons (Columba livia domestica), the racing homer and utility carneau using endogenous immunohistochemical markers proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) for proliferating cells and doublecortin (DCX) for immature and migrating neurons. The distribution of PCNA and DCX immunoreactivity was very similar in both pigeon breeds with only a few minor differences. In both pigeons, PCNA and DCX immunoreactivity was observed in the olfactory bulbs, walls of the lateral ventricle, telencephalic subdivisions of the pallium and subpallium, diencephalon, mesencephalon and cerebellum. Generally, the olfactory bulbs and telencephalon had more PCNA and DCX cells than other regions. Two proliferative hotspots were evident in the dorsal and ventral poles of the lateral ventricles. PCNA- and DCX-immunoreactive cells migrated radially from the walls of the lateral ventricle into the parenchyma. In most telencephalic regions, the density of PCNA- and DCX-immunoreactive cells increased from rostral to caudal, except in the mesopallium where the density decreased from rostral to middle levels and then increased caudally. DCX immunoreactivity was more intense in fibres than in cell bodies and DCX-immunoreactive cells included small granular cells, fusiform bipolar cells, large round and or polygonal multipolar cells. The similarity in the distribution of proliferating cells and new neurons in the telencephalon of the two breeds of pigeons may suggest that adult neurogenesis is a conserved trait as an ecological adaptation irrespective of body size.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pedzisai Mazengenya
- School of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Adhil Bhagwandin
- School of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Pilani Nkomozepi
- School of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Paul R Manger
- School of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Amadi O Ihunwo
- School of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
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11
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The Influence of Social Parameters on the Homing Behavior of Pigeons. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0166572. [PMID: 27846262 PMCID: PMC5112789 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0166572] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2016] [Accepted: 10/31/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Homing pigeons develop preferred routes when released alone several times from the same site, but they sometimes diverge from their preferred route when subsequently released with another pigeon. Additionally, group flights show a better homing performance than solo flights. But this knowledge is based on studies involving both sexes and lacks analyses of social parameters such as mating or breeding status, even though it is known that such parameters have an influence on behavior and on motivation for specific behavioral patterns. GPS trackers were used to track 24 homing pigeons (9 breeding pairs and 6 unmated females) as they performed a familiar 10km route in various pair and group combinations. Comparisons of efficiency indices (quotient between straight-line distance and pigeon’s track) reveal that unmated females show the best efficiency in single flights. Generally, group flights show the best efficiency followed by pair flights with a social partner of the opposite sex. Pair flights with the mated partner exhibit the poorest performance. Additionally, just before squabs hatching, females show a higher efficiency index when released at 8 am, compared to releases at 2 pm. Our results indicate that homing flight efficiency can provide insight into individual motivation and that social parameters have an influence on homing performance on a familiar route.
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12
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Domyan ET, Shapiro MD. Pigeonetics takes flight: Evolution, development, and genetics of intraspecific variation. Dev Biol 2016; 427:241-250. [PMID: 27847323 DOI: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2016.11.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2016] [Revised: 10/28/2016] [Accepted: 11/10/2016] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Intensive artificial selection over thousands of years has produced hundreds of varieties of domestic pigeon. As Charles Darwin observed, the morphological differences among breeds can rise to the magnitude of variation typically observed among different species. Nevertheless, different pigeon varieties are interfertile, thereby enabling forward genetic and genomic approaches to identify genes that underlie derived traits. Building on classical genetic studies of pigeon variation, recent molecular investigations find a spectrum of coding and regulatory alleles controlling derived traits, including plumage color, feather growth polarity, and limb identity. Developmental and genetic analyses of pigeons are revealing the molecular basis of variation in a classic example of extreme intraspecific diversity, and have the potential to nominate genes that control variation among other birds and vertebrates in general.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric T Domyan
- Department of Biology, Utah Valley University, Orem, UT, United States.
| | - Michael D Shapiro
- Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States.
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13
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Pantanowitz L, Glassy E. Commentary: Has pathology gone to the "birds" because we have just been "winging" it? J Pathol Inform 2016; 7:19. [PMID: 27217969 PMCID: PMC4872482 DOI: 10.4103/2153-3539.181763] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2016] [Accepted: 03/28/2016] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Liron Pantanowitz
- Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA 15232, USA
| | - Eric Glassy
- Affiliated Pathologists Medical Group, Rancho Dominguez, CA, USA
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14
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Defensive behaviors and prosencephalic neurogenesis in pigeons (Columba livia) are affected by environmental enrichment in adulthood. Brain Struct Funct 2015; 221:2287-301. [DOI: 10.1007/s00429-015-1043-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2014] [Accepted: 04/06/2015] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
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15
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Ramírez E, Marín G, Mpodozis J, Letelier JC. Extracellular recordings reveal absence of magneto sensitive units in the avian optic tectum. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2014; 200:983-96. [PMID: 25281335 PMCID: PMC4237910 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-014-0947-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2014] [Revised: 09/13/2014] [Accepted: 09/15/2014] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
There is a consensus that birds detect the earth's magnetic field and use some of its features for orientation and homing purposes. Since the late 1960s, when the first solid behavioral evidence of magnetoreception was obtained, much research has been devoted to describing the ethological aspects of this behavior. The neurophysiological basis of magnetoreception has been much less studied, although a frequently cited 1986 report described a high prevalence (70 %) of magneto-sensitive neurons in the pigeon optic tectum with high signal-to-noise ratios (Semm and Demaine, J Comp Physiol A 159:619-625, 1986). Here, we repeated these neurophysiological experiments using anesthetized as well as awake pigeons and new recording techniques. Our data indicate that magneto-sensitive units do not exist in the avian tectum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edgardo Ramírez
- Department of Biology, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile,
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16
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Barkan S, Yom-Tov Y, Barnea A. A possible relation between new neuronal recruitment and migratory behavior inAcrocephaluswarblers. Dev Neurobiol 2014; 74:1194-209. [DOI: 10.1002/dneu.22198] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2014] [Revised: 05/28/2014] [Accepted: 06/02/2014] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Shay Barkan
- Department of Zoology; Tel-Aviv University; Tel-Aviv 61391 Israel
| | - Yoram Yom-Tov
- Department of Zoology; Tel-Aviv University; Tel-Aviv 61391 Israel
| | - Anat Barnea
- Department of Natural and Life Sciences; The Open University of Israel; Ra'anana 43107 Israel
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17
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Lecchini D, Lecellier G, Lanyon RG, Holles S, Poucet B, Duran E. Variation in Brain Organization of Coral Reef Fish Larvae according to Life History Traits. BRAIN, BEHAVIOR AND EVOLUTION 2014; 83:17-30. [DOI: 10.1159/000356787] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2013] [Accepted: 10/22/2013] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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18
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19
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Distribution and characterization of doublecortin-expressing cells and fibers in the brain of the adult pigeon (Columba livia). J Chem Neuroanat 2013; 47:57-70. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jchemneu.2012.10.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2012] [Revised: 10/29/2012] [Accepted: 10/29/2012] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
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20
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Hoeller AA, dos Santos TS, Bruxel RR, Dallazen AR, do Amaral Silva HT, André ES, Marino-Neto J. Serotonergic control of ingestive and post-ingestive behaviors in pigeons (Columba livia): The role of 5-HT1A receptor-mediated central mechanisms. Behav Brain Res 2013; 236:118-130. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2012.08.035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2012] [Revised: 07/26/2012] [Accepted: 08/16/2012] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
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Rastogi A, Kumari Y, Rani S, Kumar V. Phase inversion of neural activity in the olfactory and visual systems of a night-migratory bird during migration. Eur J Neurosci 2011; 34:99-109. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2011.07737.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Day LB, Fusani L, Kim C, Schlinger BA. Sexually dimorphic neural phenotypes in golden-collared manakins (Manacus vitellinus). BRAIN, BEHAVIOR AND EVOLUTION 2011; 77:206-18. [PMID: 21576936 DOI: 10.1159/000327046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2010] [Accepted: 03/02/2011] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Male golden-collared manakins (Manacus vitellinus) perform a high-speed acrobatic courtship display punctuated by loud 'snaps' produced by the wings. Females join males on display courts to select individuals for copulation; females follow displaying males but do not perform acrobatics or make wing snaps. Sexually dimorphic courtship displays such as those performed by manakins are the result of intense sexual selection and suggest that differences between sexes exist at neural levels as well. We examined sex differences in the volume of brain areas that might be involved in the male manakin courtship display and in the female assessment of this display. We found that males had a larger hippocampus (HP, spatial learning) and arcopallium (AP, motor and limbic areas) than females when adjusted for the size of the telencephalon (TELE) minus the target area. Females had a larger ventrolateral mesopallium (MVL) both when adjusting for the size of the remaining TELE and by direct comparison. The entopallium (E) was not sexually dimorphic. The E is part of the avian tectofugal pathway and the MVL is linked to this pathway by reciprocal connections. The MVL likely modulates visually guided behavior via descending brainstem pathways. We found no sex differences in the volume of the cerebellum or cerebellar nuclei. We speculate that the HP is important to males for cross-season site fidelity and for local spatial memory, the AP for sexually driven motor patterns that are complex in males, and that the MVL facilitates female visual processing in selecting male display traits. These results are consistent with the idea that sexual selection has acted to select sex-specific behaviors in manakins that have neural correlates in the brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lainy B Day
- Department of Biology, University of Mississippi, Oxford, USA.
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Rattenborg NC, Martinez-Gonzalez D, Roth TC, Pravosudov VV. Hippocampal memory consolidation during sleep: a comparison of mammals and birds. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2010; 86:658-91. [PMID: 21070585 DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-185x.2010.00165.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
The transition from wakefulness to sleep is marked by pronounced changes in brain activity. The brain rhythms that characterize the two main types of mammalian sleep, slow-wave sleep (SWS) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, are thought to be involved in the functions of sleep. In particular, recent theories suggest that the synchronous slow-oscillation of neocortical neuronal membrane potentials, the defining feature of SWS, is involved in processing information acquired during wakefulness. According to the Standard Model of memory consolidation, during wakefulness the hippocampus receives input from neocortical regions involved in the initial encoding of an experience and binds this information into a coherent memory trace that is then transferred to the neocortex during SWS where it is stored and integrated within preexisting memory traces. Evidence suggests that this process selectively involves direct connections from the hippocampus to the prefrontal cortex (PFC), a multimodal, high-order association region implicated in coordinating the storage and recall of remote memories in the neocortex. The slow-oscillation is thought to orchestrate the transfer of information from the hippocampus by temporally coupling hippocampal sharp-wave/ripples (SWRs) and thalamocortical spindles. SWRs are synchronous bursts of hippocampal activity, during which waking neuronal firing patterns are reactivated in the hippocampus and neocortex in a coordinated manner. Thalamocortical spindles are brief 7-14 Hz oscillations that may facilitate the encoding of information reactivated during SWRs. By temporally coupling the readout of information from the hippocampus with conditions conducive to encoding in the neocortex, the slow-oscillation is thought to mediate the transfer of information from the hippocampus to the neocortex. Although several lines of evidence are consistent with this function for mammalian SWS, it is unclear whether SWS serves a similar function in birds, the only taxonomic group other than mammals to exhibit SWS and REM sleep. Based on our review of research on avian sleep, neuroanatomy, and memory, although involved in some forms of memory consolidation, avian sleep does not appear to be involved in transferring hippocampal memories to other brain regions. Despite exhibiting the slow-oscillation, SWRs and spindles have not been found in birds. Moreover, although birds independently evolved a brain region--the caudolateral nidopallium (NCL)--involved in performing high-order cognitive functions similar to those performed by the PFC, direct connections between the NCL and hippocampus have not been found in birds, and evidence for the transfer of information from the hippocampus to the NCL or other extra-hippocampal regions is lacking. Although based on the absence of evidence for various traits, collectively, these findings suggest that unlike mammalian SWS, avian SWS may not be involved in transferring memories from the hippocampus. Furthermore, it suggests that the slow-oscillation, the defining feature of mammalian and avian SWS, may serve a more general function independent of that related to coordinating the transfer of information from the hippocampus to the PFC in mammals. Given that SWS is homeostatically regulated (a process intimately related to the slow-oscillation) in mammals and birds, functional hypotheses linked to this process may apply to both taxonomic groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Niels C Rattenborg
- Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Sleep and Flight Group, Eberhard-Gwinner-Strasse, 82319, Seewiesen, Germany.
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Mehlhorn J, Haastert B, Rehkämper G. Asymmetry of different brain structures in homing pigeons with and without navigational experience. J Exp Biol 2010; 213:2219-24. [DOI: 10.1242/jeb.043208] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
SUMMARY
Homing pigeons (Columba livia f.d.) are well-known for their homing abilities, and their brains seem to be functionally adapted to homing as exemplified, e.g. by their larger hippocampi and olfactory bulbs. Their hippocampus size is influenced by navigational experience, and, as in other birds, functional specialisation of the left and right hemispheres (‘lateralisation’) occurs in homing pigeons. To show in what way lateralisation is reflected in brain structure volume, and whether some lateralisation or asymmetry in homing pigeons is caused by experience, we compared brains of homing pigeons with and without navigational experience referring to this. Fourteen homing pigeons were raised under identical constraints. After fledging, seven of them were allowed to fly around the loft and participated successfully in races. The other seven stayed permanently in the loft and thus did not share the navigational experiences of the first group. After reaching sexual maturity, all individuals were killed and morphometric analyses were carried out to measure the volumes of five basic brain parts and eight telencephalic brain parts. Measurements of telencephalic brain parts and optic tectum were done separately for the left and right hemispheres. The comparison of left/right quotients of both groups reveal that pigeons with navigational experience show a smaller left mesopallium in comparison with the right mesopallium and pigeons without navigational experience a larger left mesopallium in comparison with the right one. Additionally, there are significant differences between left and right brain subdivisions within the two pigeon groups, namely a larger left hyperpallium apicale in both pigeon groups and a larger right nidopallium, left hippocampus and right optic tectum in pigeons with navigational experience. Pigeons without navigational experience did not show more significant differences between their left and right brain subdivisions. The results of our study confirm that the brain of homing pigeons is an example for mosaic evolution and indicates that lateralisation is correlated with individual life history (experience) and not exclusively based on heritable traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Mehlhorn
- C. and O. Vogt Institute of Brain Research, University of Düsseldorf, Universitätsstrasse 1, D-40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | | | - Gerd Rehkämper
- C. and O. Vogt Institute of Brain Research, University of Düsseldorf, Universitätsstrasse 1, D-40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
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Abstract
Chickens, as well as other animals, have the ability to change their behavior (behavioral plasticity) and physiology (physiological plasticity) based on the costs and benefits to fit their environment (adaptation). Through natural selection, the population preserves and accumulates traits that are beneficial and rejects those that are detrimental in their prevailing environments. The surviving populations are able to contribute more genes associated with beneficial traits for increased fitness to subsequent generations. Natural selection is slow but constant; working over multiple generations, the changes to the population often appear silent or undetectable at a given point in history. Chickens were domesticated from the wild red jungle fowl. The principle of domestication of chickens, as well as other farm animals, by humans is similar to that of natural selection: selecting the best animals with the highest survivability and reproducibility (artificial selection). Compared with natural selection, the process of artificial selection is motivated by human needs and acts more rapidly with more visible results over a short time period. This process has been further accelerated following the development of current breeding programs and the emergence of specialized breeding companies. A laying hen, for example, produces more than 300 hundred eggs a year, whereas a jungle fowl lays 4 to 6 eggs in a year. During the domestication process, chickens retained their capability to adapt to their housing environments, which is usually achieved by genetic changes occurring with each subsequent generation. Genes control the behavioral, physiological, immunological, and psychological responses of animals to stressors, including environmental stimulations. With advances in understanding of genetic mediation of animal physiology and behavior and the discovery of the genome sequences of many species, animal production breeding programs can be improved in both speed and efficiency. Modern chicken breeding programs have the potential to be operated successfully in the breeding of tomorrow's chickens with high production efficiency and optimal welfare, resulting from resistance to stress, disease, or both.
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Affiliation(s)
- H-W Cheng
- Livestock Behavior Research Unit, USDA-Agricultural Research Service, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
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Burger T, Lucová M, Moritz RE, Oelschläger HHA, Druga R, Burda H, Wiltschko W, Wiltschko R, Nemec P. Changing and shielded magnetic fields suppress c-Fos expression in the navigation circuit: input from the magnetosensory system contributes to the internal representation of space in a subterranean rodent. J R Soc Interface 2010; 7:1275-92. [PMID: 20219838 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2009.0551] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
The neural substrate subserving magnetoreception and magnetic orientation in mammals is largely unknown. Previous experiments have demonstrated that the processing of magnetic sensory information takes place in the superior colliculus. Here, the effects of magnetic field conditions on neuronal activity in the rodent navigation circuit were assessed by quantifying c-Fos expression. Ansell's mole-rats (Fukomys anselli), a mammalian model to study the mechanisms of magnetic compass orientation, were subjected to natural, periodically changing, and shielded magnetic fields while exploring an unfamiliar circular arena. In the undisturbed local geomagnetic field, the exploration of the novel environment and/or nesting behaviour induced c-Fos expression throughout the head direction system and the entorhinal-hippocampal spatial representation system. This induction was significantly suppressed by exposure to periodically changing and/or shielded magnetic fields; discrete decreases in c-Fos were seen in the dorsal tegmental nucleus, the anterodorsal and the laterodorsal thalamic nuclei, the postsubiculum, the retrosplenial and entorhinal cortices, and the hippocampus. Moreover, in inactive animals, magnetic field intensity manipulation suppressed c-Fos expression in the CA1 and CA3 fields of the hippocampus and the dorsal subiculum, but induced expression in the polymorph layer of the dentate gyrus. These findings suggest that key constituents of the rodent navigation circuit contain populations of neurons responsive to magnetic stimuli. Thus, magnetic information may be integrated with multimodal sensory and motor information into a common spatial representation of allocentric space within this circuit.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomás Burger
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science Charles University in Prague, Vinicna 7, CZ-12844 Praha 2, Czech Republic
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