Night-vision brain area in migratory songbirds.
Journal Article (Journal Article)
Twice each year, millions of night-migratory songbirds migrate thousands of kilometers. To find their way, they must process and integrate spatiotemporal information from a variety of cues including the Earth's magnetic field and the night-time starry sky. By using sensory-driven gene expression, we discovered that night-migratory songbirds possess a tight cluster of brain regions highly active only during night vision. This cluster, here named "cluster N," is located at the dorsal surface of the brain and is adjacent to a known visual pathway. In contrast, neuronal activation of cluster N was not increased in nonmigratory birds during the night, and it disappeared in migrants when both eyes were covered. We suggest that in night-migratory songbirds cluster N is involved in enhanced night vision, and that it could be integrating vision-mediated magnetic and/or star compass information for night-time navigation. Our findings thus represent an anatomical and functional demonstration of a specific night-vision brain area.
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Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Mouritsen, H; Feenders, G; Liedvogel, M; Wada, K; Jarvis, ED
Published Date
- June 7, 2005
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 102 / 23
Start / End Page
- 8339 - 8344
PubMed ID
- 15928090
Pubmed Central ID
- PMC1149410
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
- 0027-8424
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1073/pnas.0409575102
Language
- eng
Conference Location
- United States