Visual Discrimination in the Pigeon (Columba Livia): Effects of Selective Lesions of the Nucleus Rotundus
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
4-1999
Keywords
Birds, Diencephalon, Nucleus rotundus, Stationary and motion discriminations, Visual pathway
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1097/00001756-199904060-00016
Abstract
The nucleus rotundus is a large thalamic nucleus in birds and plays a critical role in many visual discrimination tasks. In order to test the hypothesis that there are functionally distinct subdivisions in the nucleus rotundus, effects of selective lesions of the nucleus were studied in pigeons. The birds were trained to discriminate between different types of stationary objects and between different directions of moving objects. Multiple regression analyses revealed that lesions in the anterior, but not posterior, division caused deficits in discrimination of small stationary stimuli. Lesions in neither the anterior nor posterior divisions predicted effects in discrimination of moving stimuli. These results are consistent with a prediction led from the hypothesis that the nucleus is composed of functional subdivisions.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
NeuroReport, v. 10, issue 5, p. 981–985
Scholar Commons Citation
Laverghetta, A. V. and Shimizu, Toru, "Visual Discrimination in the Pigeon (Columba Livia): Effects of Selective Lesions of the Nucleus Rotundus" (1999). Psychology Faculty Publications. 385.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/psy_facpub/385
