Bingman Verner P, Siegel Jennifer J, Gagliardo Anna, Erichsen Jonathan T
Department of Psychology and J P. Scott Center for Neuroscience, Mind and Behavior, Bowling Green State University, Ohio 43403, USA.
Rev Neurosci. 2006;17(1-2):17-28. doi: 10.1515/revneuro.2006.17.1-2.17.
Brain organization and its relationship to behavior in any extant species is a reflection of a long evolutionary history of adaptive change. Therefore, it follows that the relationship between the hippocampus and spatial cognition in any species or taxonomic group would be characterized by features adapted to its spatial ecology. Birds are the animal world's supreme navigators, and aspects of their navigational ability are dependent on the integrity of the hippocampal formation. Using the homing pigeon as a model species, we review an accumulating body of data indicating that the avian hippocampus is functionally lateralized. The spatial response properties of left hippocampal neurons, as recorded in freely moving pigeons in a laboratory environment, differ from the response properties of right hippocampal neurons. Left hippocampal lesions generally disrupt navigational behavior under field conditions more than right lesions, while right lesions are more likely to disrupt goal localization behavior under laboratory conditions. We propose that the available data are consistent with a hypothesis of a left hippocampus more involved in navigational processes, and a right hippocampus more involved in representing the locations of events. We also discuss the extent to which the observed hippocampal lateralization should be viewed as an intrinsic property of the hippocampus itself or imposed by the lateralized properties of visual inputs originating in other brain regions. Whatever the nature of the observed hippocampal lateralization, it is likely one adaptive variation in hippocampal organization that supports the extraordinary spatial behavior of birds.
任何现存物种的大脑组织及其与行为的关系都是长期适应性变化进化历史的反映。因此，可以推断，任何物种或分类群中海马体与空间认知之间的关系都将以适应其空间生态的特征为特点。鸟类是动物界的顶级导航者，它们导航能力的各个方面都依赖于海马结构的完整性。以归巢鸽为模型物种，我们回顾了越来越多的数据，这些数据表明鸟类的海马体在功能上是侧化的。在实验室环境中自由活动的鸽子身上记录到的左侧海马神经元的空间反应特性与右侧海马神经元的反应特性不同。左侧海马体损伤在野外条件下通常比右侧损伤更能破坏导航行为，而右侧损伤在实验室条件下更有可能破坏目标定位行为。我们提出，现有数据与一种假设一致，即左侧海马体更多地参与导航过程，而右侧海马体更多地参与事件位置的表征。我们还讨论了观察到的海马体侧化在多大程度上应被视为海马体本身的固有属性，或者是由源自其他脑区的视觉输入的侧化属性所施加的。无论观察到的海马体侧化的本质是什么，它很可能是海马体组织中的一种适应性变化，支持了鸟类非凡的空间行为。
