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A 3-dimensional digital atlas of the ascending sensory and the descending motor systems in the pigeon brain

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Abstract

Pigeons are classic animal models for learning, memory, and cognition. The majority of the current understanding about avian neurobiology outside of the domain of the song system has been established using pigeons. Since MRI represents an increasingly relevant tool for comparative neuroscience, a 3-dimensional MRI-based atlas of the pigeon brain becomes essential. Using multiple imaging protocols, we delineated diverse ascending sensory and descending motor systems as well as the hippocampal formation. This pigeon brain atlas can easily be used to determine the stereotactic location of identified neural structures at any angle of the head. In addition, the atlas is useful to find the optimal angle of sectioning for slice experiments, stereotactic injections and electrophysiological recordings. This pigeon brain atlas is freely available for the scientific community.

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Acknowledgments

Supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft through its SFB 874 (O.G.). We are grateful to Steven Staelens, Steven Deleye and Philippe Joye from MICA (Universiteit Antwerpen) for support during CT scans and Ariane Schwarz as well as Felix Ströckens for help with histology and microscopy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biopsychology, Faculty of Psychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Ruhr-University Bochum, 44780, Bochum, Germany

    Onur Güntürkün

  2. Bio-Imaging Lab, University of Antwerp, 2610, Wilrijk, Belgium

    Marleen Verhoye, Geert De Groof & Annemie Van der Linden

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  1. Onur Güntürkün
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  2. Marleen Verhoye
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  3. Geert De Groof
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  4. Annemie Van der Linden
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Correspondence to Onur Güntürkün.

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Güntürkün, O., Verhoye, M., De Groof, G. et al. A 3-dimensional digital atlas of the ascending sensory and the descending motor systems in the pigeon brain. Brain Struct Funct 218, 269–281 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-012-0400-y

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