A hierarchical processing unit for multi-component behavior in the avian brain
Noemi Rook,
John Michael Tuff,
Julian Packheiser,
Onur Güntürkün,
Christian Beste
Affiliations
Noemi Rook
Department of Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150, 44801 Bochum, Germany; Corresponding author
John Michael Tuff
Department of Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150, 44801 Bochum, Germany; Max Planck School of Cognition, Stephanstrasse 1a, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
Julian Packheiser
Department of Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150, 44801 Bochum, Germany
Onur Güntürkün
Department of Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150, 44801 Bochum, Germany
Christian Beste
Cognitive Neurophysiology, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, TU Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany; University Neuropsychology Center, Faculty of Medicine, TU Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany
Summary: Multi-component behavior is a form of goal-directed behavior that depends on the ability to execute various responses in a precise temporal order. Even though this function is vital for any species, little is known about how non-mammalian species accomplish such behavior and what the underlying neural mechanisms are. We show that humans and a non-mammalian species (pigeons) perform equally well in multi-component behavior and provide a validated experimental approach useful for cross-species comparisons. Applying molecular imaging methods, we identified brain regions most important for the examined behavioral dynamics in pigeons. Especially activity in the nidopallium intermedium medialis pars laterale (NIML) was specific to multi-component behavior since only activity in NIML was predictive for behavioral efficiency. The data suggest that NIML is important for hierarchical processing during goal-directed behavior and shares functional characteristics with the human inferior frontal gyrus in multi-component behavior.
