Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T02:59:55.976Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Effects of serial lesions of telencephalic components of the visual system in pigeons

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2009

Nell M. Riley ,
William Hodos  and
Tatiana Pasternak
Nell M. Riley
Affiliation:
Pacific Graduate School of Psychology, Menlo Park, California
William Hodos
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park
Tatiana Pasternak
Affiliation:
Center for Visual Science, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A serial-lesion technique was used to investigate interactions in visual processing between telencephalic components of the pigeon visual system. Pigeons were trained to discriminate pairs of stimuli that differed in color, intensity or pattern. After mastering the discrimination tasks, they were assigned to one of three groups. The first group (WI-EII) received lesions of the visual Wulst and were retested. After the discrimination tasks were again mastered, a second set of lesions was made, this time in the ectostriatum. The birds were tested once again after the second surgery. The second group (EI-WII), underwent the same sequence of events except that the order of the lesions was reversed. In the third group (E + W), lesions of both the visual Wulst and ectostriatum were made in a single operation, followed by retesting. The performance after the first lesion of the subjects in each of the two-stage lesion groups was typical of performance after such lesions; i.e. the birds with visual-Wulst lesions showed little or no impairment on any of the tasks, whereas the pigeons with ectostriatum lesions showed considerable deficits in intensity and pattern discrimination, which diminished after prolonged retraining. In contrast, the pigeons in the one-stage group (E + W) showed profound deficits that appeared to be permanent. The performance after the second operation of the WI-EII group was the same as that of pigeons with lesions of ectostriatum alone; i.e. destruction of ectostriatum first or second resulted in the same duration of impairment. The performance of the EI-WII group after its visual Wulst lesion, however, was similar to that observed in the E + W group. The results are interpreted as a reflection of parallel processing within the avian visual system; i.e. the presence of an intact tectofugal pathway may mask the effects of thalamofugal pathway interruption.

Keywords

PigeonsVisual discriminationLesionsEctostriatumWulst
Type
Research Articles
Information
Visual Neuroscience , Volume 1 , Issue 4 , July 1988 , pp. 387 - 394
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bach-y-Rita, P. (ed.) (1980). Recovery of Function Following Brain Injury: Theoretical Considerations. Bern: Huber Press.Google Scholar
Benowitz, L.I. & Karten, H.J. (1976). Afferentation of the nucleus rotundus and ectostriatum of the pigeon: a retrograde transport analysis. Journal of Comparative Neurology 167, 503–520.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bessette, B.B. & Hodos, W. (1988). Intensity, color and pattern discrimination deficits after lesions of the core and belt regions of the ectostriatum. Visual Neuroscience (in press).Google Scholar
Brecha, N.C. (1978). Some observations on the organization of the avian optic tectum: Afferent nuclei and their tectal projections. Doctoral Dissertation, New York State University at Stony Brook.Google Scholar
Fellows, B.J. (1967). Chance stimulus sequence for discrimination tasks. Psychology Bulletin 67, 87–92.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Finger, S. (1974). Recovery after somatosensory forebrain damage. In Plasticity and Recovery of Function in the Central Nervous System, ed. Stein, D.G., Rosen, J.J. & Butters, N.New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Finger, F. (ed.) (1978). Recovery from Brain Damage: Research and Theory. New York: Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hodos, W. (1969). Color discrimination deficits after lesions of nucleus rotundus in pigeons. Brain, Behavior, and Evolution 2, 185–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hodos, W. (1976). Vision and the visual system: a bird's eye view. In Progress in Psychobiology and Physiological Psychology, ed. Sprague, J.M. & EPstein, A.N. pp. 29–62. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Hodos, W. & Bobko, P. (1984). A weighted index of bilateral brain lesions. Journal of Neuroscience Methods 12, 43–47.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hodos, W. & Bonbright, J.C. (1974). Intensity difference thresholds in pigeons after lesions of the tectofugal and thalamofugal visual pathways. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology 87, 1013–1031.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hodos, W. & Karten, H.J. (1966). Brightness and pattern discrimination deficits in the pigeon after lesions of nucleus rotundus. Experimental Brain Research 2, 151–167.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hodos, W. & Karten, H.J. (1970). Visual intensity and pattern discrimination deficits after lesions of ectostriatum in pigeons. Journal of Comparative Neurology 140, 53–68.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hodos, W., Karten, H.J. & Bonbright, J.C. (1973). Visual intensity and pattern discrimination deficits after lesions of the thalamofugal visual pathway in pigeons. Journal of Comparative Neurology 148, 447–468.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hodos, W., Macko, K.A. & Sommers, D.I. (1982). Interactions between components of the avian visual system. Behavioural Brain Research 5, 157–173.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hodos, W., Macko, K.A. & Bessette, B.B. (1984). Near-field acuity changes after visual system lesions in pigeons. II. Telencephalon. Behavioural Brain Research 13, 15–30.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hodos, W., Weiss, S.R.B. & Bessette, B.B. (1986). Size-threshold changes after lesions of the visual telencephalon in pigeons. Behavioral Brain Research 21, 203–214.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hodos, W., Weiss, S.R.B. & Bessette, B.B. (1988). Intensity difference thresholds after lesions of ectostriatum in pigeons. Behavioural Brain Research (in press).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hunt, S.P. & Webster, K.E. (1972). Thalamo-hyperstriate interrelations in the pigeon. Brain Research 44, 647–651.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Karten, H.J. (1969). The organization of the avian telencephalon and some speculations on the phylogeny of the amniote telencephalon. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 167, 164–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karten, H.J. & Hodos, W. (1967). A Stereotaxic Atlas of the Brain of the Pigeon (Columbalivia). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press.Google Scholar
Karten, H.J. & Hodos, W. (1970). Telencephalic projections of the nucleus rotundus in the pigeon (Columbalivia). Journal of Comparative Neurology 140, 35–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karten, H.J., Hodos, W., Nauta, W.J.A. & Revzin, A.M. (1973). Neural connections of the “visual Wulst” of the avian telencephalon. Experimental studies in the pigeon (Columba livia) and owl (Speotyto cunnicularia). Journal of Comparative Neurology 150, 253–278.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Karten, H.J. & Revzin, A.M. (1966). The afferent connections of the nucleus rotundus in the pigeon. Brain Research 2, 368–377.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Karten, H.J. & Revzin, A. (1966/1967). The afferent connections of the nucleus rotundus in the pigeon. Brain Research 2, 368–377.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Klüver, H. & Barrera, E. (1953). A method for the combined staining of cells and fibers in the nervous system. Journal of Neu-ropathology and Experimental Neurology 12, 400–403.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lennie, P. (1980). Parallel visual pathways: a review. Vision Research 14, 561–594.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Macko, K.A. & Hodos, W. (1984). Near-field acuity after visual system lesions in pigeons. I. Thalamus. Behavioural Brain Research 13, 1–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Meier, R.E., Mihailovic, J. & Cuenod, M. (1974). Thalamic organization of the retino-thalamo-hyperstriatal pathway in the pigeon. Experimental Brain Research 19, 351–364.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miceli, D., Peyrichoux, J. & Reperant, J. (1975). The retino-thalamo-hyperstriatal pathway in the pigeon. Brain Research 100, 125–131.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mihailovic, J., Perisic, M., Bergonzi, R. & Meier, R.M. (1974). The dorsolateral thalamic in the retino-Wulst pathway in pigeon. Experimental Brain Research 21, 229–240.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nixdorf, B.E. & Bischof, H.J. (1982). Afferent connections of the ectostriatum and visual Wulst in the zebra finch [Taeniopygia gut-tata castanoic] Gould. Brain Research 248, 9–17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pasternak, T. & Hodos, W. (1977). Intensity difference thresholds after lesions of the visual Wulst in pigeons. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology 91, 485–497.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pettigrew, J. & Konishi, M. (1976). Neurons selective for orientation and binocular disparity in the visual Wulst of the barn owl. Science 193, 675–678.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pritz, M.B., Mead, W.R. & Northcutt, R.G. (1970). The effects of Wulst ablations in color, brightness and pattern discrimination in pigeons (Columba livia), Journal of Comparative Neurology 140, 81–100.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Raisman, G. (1978). What hope for repair of the brain? Annals of Neurology 3, 101–106.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Revzin, A.M. (1969). A specific visual projection area in the hyperstriatum of the pigeon (Columba livia). Brain Research 15, 246–249.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scheff, S.W., Bernardo, L.S. & Cotman, C.W. (1978). Effect of serial lesions on sprouting in the dentate gyrus: onset and decline of the catalytic effect. Brain Research 150, 45–53.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stein, D.G. (1974). Some variables influencing recovery of function after central nervous system lesions in the rat. In Plasticity and Recovery of Function in the Central Nervous System ed. Stein, D.G., Rosen, J.J., Butters, N. pp. 373–427. New York: Academic Press.Google ScholarPubMed
Stein, D.G., Rosen, J.J. & Butters, N. (eds.) (1974). Plasticity and Recovery of Function in the Central Nervous System. New York: Academic Press.Google ScholarPubMed
Treichler, F.R. (1975). Two-stage frontal lesion influences upon the severity of delayed response deficit. Behavioral Biology 13, 35–47.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wall, P.D. (1980). Mechanisms of plasticity of connection following damage of adult nervous system. In Recovery of Function Following Brain Injury: Theoretical Considerations, ed. Bach-Y-Rita, P.Bern: Huber Press.Google Scholar