Delius J D, Hollard V D
Behav Brain Res. 1987 Mar;23(3):251-9. doi: 10.1016/0166-4328(87)90025-8.
Pigeons were trained to perform a visual orientation invariance task consisting of shape matching-to-sample or oddity-from-sample discriminations where the comparison forms differed in orientation from the sample forms, and the odd comparison forms were always a mirror image of the sample. They then received lesions affecting the visual projection area within the anterior hyperstriatum or the dorsal neostriatum, a control area with no known visual function. Both groups of birds evinced minor transient postoperative deficits of similar magnitude during the shape recognition task under orientation invariance conditions when the habitual training forms were used. When novel forms were introduced, the performance of hyperstriatal pigeons was significantly worse than that of the neostriatal pigeons, but still well above chance. The introduction of a delay between the offset of the sample and the onset of the habitual comparison stimuli did not yield any differential effect. It is concluded that orientation invariance of pattern recognition performance of birds, in contrast to that in mammals, is probably a midbrain, optic tectum function.
鸽子接受训练以执行视觉方向不变性任务，该任务包括形状匹配样本或样本异常辨别，其中比较形状与样本形状在方向上不同，且异常比较形状总是样本的镜像。然后，它们接受了影响前纹状体或背侧新纹状体内视觉投射区域的损伤，背侧新纹状体是一个没有已知视觉功能的对照区域。当使用习惯训练形状时，两组鸟类在方向不变性条件下的形状识别任务中均表现出轻微的术后短暂缺陷，且程度相似。当引入新形状时，纹状体前部鸽子的表现明显比新纹状体鸽子差，但仍远高于随机水平。在样本消失和习惯比较刺激开始之间引入延迟没有产生任何差异效应。得出的结论是，与哺乳动物不同，鸟类模式识别性能的方向不变性可能是中脑视顶盖的功能。
