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Neural basis of imprinting behavior in chicks
Author(s) -
Nakamori Tomoharu,
Maekawa Fumihiko,
Sato Katsushige,
Tanaka Kohichi,
OhkiHamazaki Hiroko
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
development, growth and differentiation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.864
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1440-169X
pISSN - 0012-1592
DOI - 10.1111/dgd.12028
Subject(s) - imprinting (psychology) , neuroscience , visual cortex , prefrontal cortex , biology , nmda receptor , psychology , receptor , cognition , genetics , gene
Newly hatched chicks memorize the characteristics of the first moving object they encounter, and subsequently show a preference for it. This “imprinting” behavior is an example of infant learning and is elicited by visual and/or auditory cues. Visual information of imprinting stimuli in chicks is first processed in the visual Wulst ( VW ), a telencephalic area corresponding to the mammalian visual cortex, congregates in the core region of the hyperpallium densocellulare ( HDC o) cells, and transmitted to the intermediate medial mesopallium ( IMM ), a region similar to the mammalian association cortex. The imprinting memory is stored in the IMM , and activities of IMM neurons are altered by imprinting. Imprinting also induces functional and structural plastic changes of neurons in the circuit that links the VW and the IMM . Of these neurons, the activity of the HDC o cells is strongly influenced by imprinting. Expression and modulation of NR 2B subunit‐containing N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate ( NMDA ) receptors in the HDC o cells are crucial for plastic changes in this circuit as well as the process of visual imprinting. Thus, elucidation of cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the plastic changes that occurred in the HDC o cells may provide useful knowledge about infant learning.