Hippocampal ablated homing pigeons show a persistent impairment in the time taken to return home

SummaryHoming pigeons were subjected to either hippocampal or control anterior forebrain ablations to examine what role the hippocampus and related structures may play in homing behavior. One year after surgery, the test birds were released from five locations where they had never been before. Both groups were successful in orienting homeward from the release sites, indicating that the hippocampus is not necessary for the neural regulation of a pigeon's map and compass system. Nonetheless, hippocampal ablated pigeons were significantly poorer with respect to the time required to return home, indicating a homing performance impairment. Alternative hypotheses are discussed to explain this result, the most parsimonious being impaired ability on the part of the hippocampal ablated birds to direct a course homeward.

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