Neuronal implementation of hippocampal-mediated spatial behavior: a comparative evolutionary perspective.

Full Abstract

The hippocampal formation (HF) of mammals and birds plays a strikingly similar role in the representation of space. This evolutionarily conserved property, however, belies the contrasting spatial ecology of animals such as rats and homing pigeons, differing spatial ecologies that should have promoted the evolution of group-specific adaptations to the HF representation of space. However, the spatial response properties of pigeon and rat HF neurons reveal surprising similarity in the contribution of position, direction, and trajectory toward explaining spatial variation in firing rate. By contrast, the asymmetrical distribution of neuronal response properties in the left and right HF of homing pigeons, but not rats, indicates a difference in network organization. The authors propose that hippocampal evolution may be characterized by inertia with respect to changes in the basic spatial elements that determine the response properties of neurons but considerable plasticity in how the neuronal response elements are organized into functional networks.

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Author information

Author/s: Bingman, Verner P (VP); Sharp, Patricia E (PE);

Affiliation: Bowling Green State University, USA.

Grants: R01 MH66460 (Agency:NIMH NIH HHS) ; R01 NS35191 (Agency:NINDS NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.; Review

Journal: Behavioral and cognitive neuroscience reviews (Behav Cogn Neurosci Rev), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Jun; vol 5 (issue 2) : pp 80-91

Dates: Created 2006/06/27; Completed 2006/10/31; Revised 2007/11/14;

PMID: 16801684, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Animals
Columbidae
Evoked Potentials - physiology
Evolution
Exploratory Behavior - physiology
Functional Laterality - physiology
Hippocampus - cytology; physiology

Hippocampus - cytology; physiology
Maze Learning - physiology
Neurons - physiology
Problem Solving - physiology
Rats
Space Perception - physiology
Spatial Behavior - physiology

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