Orientation, Cognition and the Avian Brain

定向、认知和鸟类大脑

• 批准号: 105542-2013
• 负责人: Sherry, David
• 金额: $ 2.4万
• 依托单位: University of Western Ontario
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2016-01-01 至 2017-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=593231
• 关键词: Orientation; Cognition; Avian; Brain

Research on spatial orientation has provided a wealth of new information and insights into cognition and its neural basis. Spatial orientation plays an important role in the lives of nearly all animals but is critical in the three groups of birds that are the focus of this research: food-storing birds, brood parasites and migratory shorebirds. Food-storing birds, like black-capped chickadees, establish thousands of spatially-dispersed food caches during the fall and winter. My previous research has shown that chickadees remember the locations of their caches and possess remarkable specialization of the hippocampus, a brain region involved in orientation and memory. The hippocampus of food-storing birds is larger than the hippocampus of non-storing birds and exhibits seasonal neurogenesis associated with food storing. Brood parasites, like brown-headed cowbirds, lay their eggs in the nests of other birds. Female cowbirds search for and remember the locations of potential host nests and have a larger hippocampus than males. Migratory shorebirds, like semipalmated sandpipers, fly 4000 km between their breeding areas in the Canadian arctic and wintering areas on the Atlantic coast of South America. This proposal describes research conducted under the previous Discovery grant on orientation, cognition and the brain of these birds and proposes new research examining: 1) Consolidation of spatial memory in the brain of food-storing birds, 2) Sex differences in spatial ability and numerical competence in brood parasites, and 3) The effect of migratory experience on two brain regions of migratory shorebirds, the hippocampus and Cluster N, a region involved in orientation to the earth's magnetic field. This research will advance our understanding of the fundamental brain mechanisms of orientation with results applicable to both animals and humans, will provide new insights into the cognitive processes of animals, and will lead to greater understanding and appreciation of the behaviour of native Canadian birds.

空间定向研究为认知及其神经基础提供了大量新信息和见解。空间定向在几乎所有动物的生活中都发挥着重要作用，但对于本研究重点的三类鸟类来说至关重要：食物储存鸟类、巢寄生虫和迁徙滨鸟。黑冠山雀等储存食物的鸟类会在秋季和冬季建立数千个分散的食物储藏室。我之前的研究表明，山雀记得它们的藏匿处，并且拥有显着的海马体特化，海马体是一个涉及定向和记忆的大脑区域。储存食物的鸟类的海马体比不储存食物的鸟类的海马体大，并且表现出与食物储存相关的季节性神经发生。巢寄生虫，如棕头牛鹂，将卵产在其他鸟类的巢中。雌性牛鹂会寻找并记住潜在宿主巢穴的位置，并且具有比雄性更大的海马体。候鸟，如半掌鹬，在加拿大北极的繁殖区和南美洲大西洋沿岸的越冬区之间飞行 4000 公里。该提案描述了之前的发现基金对这些鸟类的定向、认知和大脑进行的研究，并提出了新的研究检查：1）食物储存鸟类大脑中空间记忆的巩固，2）空间能力和数字方面的性别差异巢寄生虫的能力，以及3）迁徙经历对迁徙鸻鹬的两个大脑区域的影响，即海马体和N簇（涉及地球磁场定向的区域）。这项研究将增进我们对基本大脑定向机制的理解，其结果适用于动物和人类，将为动物的认知过程提供新的见解，并将导致对加拿大本土鸟类行为的更好理解和欣​​赏。