Abstract:
The behavioral and neural mechanisms that support spatial cognition have been an enduring interest of psychologists, and much of that enduring interest is attributable to the groundbreaking research of Ken Cheng. One manifestation of this interest, inspired by the idea of studying spatial cognition under natural field conditions, has been research carried out to understand the role of the avian hippocampal formation (HF) in supporting homing pigeon navigation. Emerging from that research has been the conclusion that the role of HF in homing pigeon navigation aligns well with the canonical narrative of a hippocampus important for spatial memory and the implementation of such memories to support navigation. However, recently an accumulation of disparate observations has prompted a rethinking of the avian HF as a structure also important in shaping visual-spatial perception or attention antecedent to any memory processing. In this perspective paper, we summarize field observations contrasting the behavior of intact and HF-lesioned homing pigeons from several studies, based primarily on GPS-recorded flight paths, that support a recharacterization of HF\'s functional profile to include visual-spatial perception. Although admittedly still speculative, we hope the offered perspective will motivate controlled, experimental-laboratory studies to further test the hypothesis of a HF important for visual-perceptual integration, or scene construction, of landscape elements in support of navigation.
摘要:
支持空间认知的行为和神经机制一直是心理学家的持久兴趣,而这种持久的兴趣很大程度上归功于郑健的开创性研究。这种兴趣的一种表现,受到在自然场条件下研究空间认知的思想的启发,已经进行了研究,以了解鸟类海马结构(HF)在支持归巢鸽子导航中的作用。从该研究中得出的结论是,HF在信鸽导航中的作用与海马体的规范叙述很好地吻合,海马体对于空间记忆和实现此类记忆以支持导航很重要。然而,最近,不同的观察结果的积累促使人们重新思考禽类HF,因为它是一种结构,对于塑造任何记忆处理的视觉空间感知或注意力先行也很重要。在这篇透视论文中,我们总结了现场观察对比的行为完整的和HF损伤的归巢鸽子从几个研究,主要基于GPS记录的飞行路径,这支持对HF的功能轮廓进行重新表征,以包括视觉空间感知。尽管诚然仍然是投机性的,我们希望提供的观点能激励控制,实验-实验室研究,以进一步检验HF的假设对于视觉-感知整合很重要,或场景建设,景观元素支持导航。