Neurons in the pigeon visual network discriminate between faces, scrambled faces, and sine grating images
Abstract Discriminating between object categories (e.g., conspecifics, food, potential predators) is a critical function of the primate and bird visual systems. We examined whether a similar hierarchical organization in the ventral stream that operates for processing faces in monkeys also exists in...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
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Nature Portfolio
2022-01-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-04559-z |
| _version_ | 1818753165598654464 |
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| author | William Clark Matthew Chilcott Amir Azizi Roland Pusch Kate Perry Michael Colombo |
| author_facet | William Clark Matthew Chilcott Amir Azizi Roland Pusch Kate Perry Michael Colombo |
| author_sort | William Clark |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Discriminating between object categories (e.g., conspecifics, food, potential predators) is a critical function of the primate and bird visual systems. We examined whether a similar hierarchical organization in the ventral stream that operates for processing faces in monkeys also exists in the avian visual system. We performed electrophysiological recordings from the pigeon Wulst of the thalamofugal pathway, in addition to the entopallium (ENTO) and mesopallium ventrolaterale (MVL) of the tectofugal pathway, while pigeons viewed images of faces, scrambled controls, and sine gratings. A greater proportion of MVL neurons fired to the stimuli, and linear discriminant analysis revealed that the population response of MVL neurons distinguished between the stimuli with greater capacity than ENTO and Wulst neurons. While MVL neurons displayed the greatest response selectivity, in contrast to the primate system no neurons were strongly face-selective and some responded best to the scrambled images. These findings suggest that MVL is primarily involved in processing the local features of images, much like the early visual cortex. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-18T05:03:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3bd86982bb5743e0b8997d7ee047da3a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-18T05:03:01Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-3bd86982bb5743e0b8997d7ee047da3a2022-12-21T21:20:05ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222022-01-0112111210.1038/s41598-021-04559-zNeurons in the pigeon visual network discriminate between faces, scrambled faces, and sine grating imagesWilliam Clark0Matthew Chilcott1Amir Azizi2Roland Pusch3Kate Perry4Michael Colombo5Department of Psychology, University of OtagoDepartment of Physics, University of OtagoDepartment of Systems Biology, Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute of Iran (ABRII)Department of Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University BochumDepartment of Psychology, University of OtagoDepartment of Psychology, University of OtagoAbstract Discriminating between object categories (e.g., conspecifics, food, potential predators) is a critical function of the primate and bird visual systems. We examined whether a similar hierarchical organization in the ventral stream that operates for processing faces in monkeys also exists in the avian visual system. We performed electrophysiological recordings from the pigeon Wulst of the thalamofugal pathway, in addition to the entopallium (ENTO) and mesopallium ventrolaterale (MVL) of the tectofugal pathway, while pigeons viewed images of faces, scrambled controls, and sine gratings. A greater proportion of MVL neurons fired to the stimuli, and linear discriminant analysis revealed that the population response of MVL neurons distinguished between the stimuli with greater capacity than ENTO and Wulst neurons. While MVL neurons displayed the greatest response selectivity, in contrast to the primate system no neurons were strongly face-selective and some responded best to the scrambled images. These findings suggest that MVL is primarily involved in processing the local features of images, much like the early visual cortex.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-04559-z |
| spellingShingle | William Clark Matthew Chilcott Amir Azizi Roland Pusch Kate Perry Michael Colombo Neurons in the pigeon visual network discriminate between faces, scrambled faces, and sine grating images Scientific Reports |
| title | Neurons in the pigeon visual network discriminate between faces, scrambled faces, and sine grating images |
| title_full | Neurons in the pigeon visual network discriminate between faces, scrambled faces, and sine grating images |
| title_fullStr | Neurons in the pigeon visual network discriminate between faces, scrambled faces, and sine grating images |
| title_full_unstemmed | Neurons in the pigeon visual network discriminate between faces, scrambled faces, and sine grating images |
| title_short | Neurons in the pigeon visual network discriminate between faces, scrambled faces, and sine grating images |
| title_sort | neurons in the pigeon visual network discriminate between faces scrambled faces and sine grating images |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-04559-z |
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