Sequential neural information processing in nidopallium caudolaterale of pigeons during the acquisition process of operant conditioning.

The avian nidopallium caudolaterale, a key region of information integration and processing, is considered to be playing an important role in operant conditioning acquisition and extinction. To reveal sequential neural information processing in the process, neural signals of different experimental periods (induction, acquisition, and extinction) from the nidopallium caudolaterale of pigeons were acquired and the energy of the specific frequency band was analyzed from the light stimulation input to the pecking action output. We found that during the induction period, the pigeons establish a relationship between the visual cue and decision behavior. The neural coding activities of pecking intention are earlier than that of light stimulation. Moreover, the neural coding activities of pecking intention move forward through strengthening and consolidation of the acquisition period. During the extinction period, the relationship of the visual cue and decision behavior is broken. The coding of light stimulation and pecking intention disappears gradually, and the disappearance of intention coding activities is earlier. The results show that there may be present an elaborate time-course contingency between the light stimulation and the pecking intention in the nidopallium caudolaterale. This study provides the electrophysiological experimental evidence for the dynamic coding mechanism of nidopallium caudolaterale.