Morphology of the "prefrontal" nidopallium caudolaterale in the long-distance night-migratory Eurasian blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla). (15th October 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kobylkov, Dmitry; Musielak, Isabelle; Haase, Katrin; Rook, Noemi; von Eugen, Kaya; Dedek, Karin; Güntürkün, Onur; Mouritsen, Henrik; Heyers, Dominik
• Is Part Of: Neuroscience letters. Volume 789(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-10-15
• Subjects: Birds -- Dopamine -- NCL -- Multimodal Integration -- Prefrontal cortex; Neurology -- Periodicals; Neurology -- Periodicals; Research -- Periodicals; Neurologie -- Périodiques; Neuroanatomie -- Périodiques; Neuropharmacologie -- Périodiques; Neurophysiologie -- Périodiques; Neurology; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 617.48
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2022.136869
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0304-3940

Abstract

Highlights: Navigation requires integrative brain structures capable to execute cognitive tasks. The avian nidopallium caudolaterale enables multisensory integration/decision making. CL in night-migratory Eurasian blackcaps appears strikingly heterogeneous. NCL characteristics could be driven by migration-specific cognitive challenges. Abstract: Migrating birds have developed remarkable navigational capabilities to successfully master biannual journeys between their breeding and wintering grounds. To reach their intended destination, they need to calculate navigational goals from a large variety of natural directional and positional cues to set a meaningful motor output command. One brain area, which has been associated with such executive functions, is the nidopallium caudolaterale (NCL), which, due to its striking similarities in terms of neurochemistry, connectivity and function, is considered analogous to the mammalian prefrontal cortex. To establish a baseline for further analyses elucidating the neuronal correlates underlying avian navigation, we performed quantitative and qualitative analyses of dopaminergic fibres in the brains of long-distance night-migratory Eurasian blackcaps ( Sylvia atricapilla ). We identified four regions in the caudal telencephalon, each of which was characterized by its specific dopaminergic innervation pattern. At least three of them presumably constitute subareas of the NCL in Eurasian blackcaps and could thus be involved in integrating navigational input from different sensory systems. The observed heterogeneity and parcellation of the NCL subcompartments in this migratory species could be a consequence of the special demands related to navigation.