Behavioural effects of ablation of the pigeon-equivalent of the mammalian prefrontal cortex.

Six pigeons were trained to perform delayed alternation and brightness discrimination. Three of them underwent ablation of the posterodorsolateral neostriatum (PDLNS) which is believed to correspond to the mammalian prefrontal cortex. In the other three pigeons hyperstriatal lesions were induced by local injections of ibotenic acid. Ablation of PDLNS impaired performance of delayed alternation much more than did the hyperstriatal lesion. In brightness discrimination, a mild impairment occurred only on the first postoperative session and only in the PDLNS group. We conclude that the ablation of PDLNS in pigeons and of the prefrontal cortex in mammals induce similar impairments. Thus, the prefrontal cortex appears not to be a privilege of mammals, but may appear in different architectonic variants in all "higher" vertebrates.