The Hippocampus is a key structure to understand cognition. Unfortunately, we still lack proper knowledge on the interaction between the different hippocampal subregions in birds. To fill this gap, Biopsychologists from Bochum conducted a resting-state fMRI experiment in awake pigeons in a 7-T MR scanner. A voxel-wise regression analysis of blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) fluctuations was performed in 6 distinct hippocampal areas, to establish a functional connectivity map of the avian hippocampal network. This first such study in awake birds revealed the functional backbones of information flow within the pigeon hippocampal system. In summary, these findings uncovered a structurally otherwise invisible architecture of the avian hippocampal formation by revealing the dynamic blueprints of this network.

Behroozi, M., Ströckens, F., Helluy, X., Stacho, M. and Güntürkün, O., Functional connectivity of the pigeon hippocampal network: An rsfMRI study, Brain, Behav. Evol., 2017, 90: 62–72.