PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Lukas Alexander Hahn
AU  - Jonas Rose
TI  - Executive Control of Sequence Behavior in Pigeons Involves Two Distinct Brain Regions
AID  - 10.1523/ENEURO.0296-22.2023
DP  - 2023 Mar 01
TA  - eneuro
PG  - ENEURO.0296-22.2023
VI  - 10
IP  - 3
4099  - http://www.eneuro.org/content/10/3/ENEURO.0296-22.2023.short
4100  - http://www.eneuro.org/content/10/3/ENEURO.0296-22.2023.full
SO  - eNeuro2023 Mar 01; 10
AB  - Executive functions arise from multiple regions of the brain acting in concert. To facilitate such cross-regional computations, the brain is organized into distinct executive networks, like the frontoparietal network. Despite similar cognitive abilities across many domains, little is known about such executive networks in birds. Recent advances in avian fMRI have shown a possible subset of regions, including the nidopallium caudolaterale (NCL) and the lateral part of medial intermediate nidopallium (NIML), that may contribute to complex cognition, forming an action control system of pigeons. We investigated the neuronal activity of NCL and NIML. Single-cell recordings were obtained during the execution of a complex sequential motor task that required executive control to stop executing one behavior and continue with a different one. We compared the neuronal activity of NIML to NCL and found that both regions fully processed the ongoing sequential execution of the task. Differences arose from how behavioral outcome was processed. Our results indicate that NCL takes on a role in evaluating outcome, while NIML is more tightly associated with ongoing sequential steps. Importantly, both regions seem to contribute to overall behavioral output as parts of a possible avian executive network, crucial for behavioral flexibility and decision-making.