Multidimensional visual feature encoding and functional organization in the pigeon entopallium.
Overview
- School of Electrical and Information Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan 450001, China
- Henan Key Laboratory of Brain Science and Brain Computer Interface Technology, Zhengzhou, Henan 450001, China
Abstract
Understanding how birds perceive and recognize visual objects remains a fundamental question in neuroscience. The entopallium, a key node in the avian tectofugal pathway, has long been implicated in complex visual processing, yet its internal functional architecture remains incompletely understood. In this study, neuronal activity in the pigeon entopallium was systematically mapped using controlled visual stimuli that independently varied in color, shape, and motion. Recordings revealed marked hue selectivity that remained invariant across luminance levels, pronounced orientation tuning in response to shape stimuli, and robust direction selectivity for moving stimuli. Spatial mapping further revealed distinct functional segregation, with color-selective neurons localized anteroventrally, shape-selective neurons dorsally, and motion-selective neurons posteriorly. At the same time, partial overlap among these response classes was observed, with a subset of neurons exhibiting joint tuning across stimulus dimensions, suggesting an organizational scheme characterized by regional specialization and partial cross-feature integration. Notably, entopallium neurons exhibited a moderate level of visual feature integration and shared important functional properties with early to intermediate stages of mammalian visual processing. Together, these findings establish the entopallium as a major site for multidimensional visual analysis in birds and provide evidence for convergent principles underlying the evolution of complex visual systems across vertebrates.
Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY-NC), from the paper cited above.
Code
The paper links to its data, not to its authors' code: see the Data section.
Tracing map
A tracing map links a paper to the code its authors published: this paper has none, so it has no map.
Data
Datasets cited
- figshare:28615325, at figshare; found in “DATA AVAILABILITY”
Data availability
The data that support the findings of this study are available in the following repository: https://
Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY-NC), from the paper cited above.
Versions
The history of this record: each version stored by the harvester or made by a correction of its authors or of the maintainers of its code, and what changed in its facts. The texts of the paper (its abstract, its availability statements) are not part of it; versions that changed only those are not listed.
Version 1, 30 September 2026: the first record
Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 7 authors, 5 keywords, 6 MeSH terms, 2 funders, 78 references.
Cite
This paper
Zhu, J.-C., Zhu, M.-J., He, Q.-Z., Wu, P., Niu, X.-K., Wang, J.-T., & Wang, Z.-Z. (2026). Multidimensional visual feature encoding and functional organization in the pigeon entopallium. Zoological research, 47(2), 487-502. https://
BibTeX
@article{zhu2026multidim
author = {Zhu, Jun-Cai and Zhu, Min-Jie and He, Qing-Zhi and Wu, Peng and Niu, Xiao-Ke and Wang, Jiang-Tao and Wang, Zhi-Zhong},
title = {{Multidimensional visual feature encoding and functional organization in the pigeon entopallium}},
journal = {Zoological research},
year = {2026},
month = mar,
volume = {47},
number = {2},
pages = {487--502},
publisher = {Editorial Office of Zoological Research, Kunming Institute of Zoology, The Chinese Academy of Sciences},
issn = {2095-8137},
doi = {10.24272/
url = {https://
pmid = {41983445},
pmcid = {PMC13425390}
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
AU - Zhu, Jun-Cai
AU - Zhu, Min-Jie
AU - He, Qing-Zhi
AU - Wu, Peng
AU - Niu, Xiao-Ke
AU - Wang, Jiang-Tao
AU - Wang, Zhi-Zhong
TI - Multidimensional visual feature encoding and functional organization in the pigeon entopallium
T2 - Zoological research
J2 - Zool Res
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/
VL - 47
IS - 2
SP - 487
EP - 502
SN - 2095-8137
PB - Editorial Office of Zoological Research, Kunming Institute of Zoology, The Chinese Academy of Sciences
DO - 10.24272/
UR - https://
LA - en
ER -
CSL-JSON
{
"id": "10.24272/
"type": "article-journal",
"title": "Multidimensional visual feature encoding and functional organization in the pigeon entopallium",
"container-title": "Zoological research",
"author": [
{
"family": "Zhu",
"given": "Jun-Cai"
},
{
"family": "Zhu",
"given": "Min-Jie"
},
{
"family": "He",
"given": "Qing-Zhi"
},
{
"family": "Wu",
"given": "Peng"
},
{
"family": "Niu",
"given": "Xiao-Ke"
},
{
"family": "Wang",
"given": "Jiang-Tao"
},
{
"family": "Wang",
"given": "Zhi-Zhong"
}
],
"container-title-short":
"volume": "47",
"issue": "2",
"page": "487-502",
"DOI": "10.24272/
"PMID": "41983445",
"PMCID": "PMC13425390",
"ISSN": "2095-8137",
"publisher": "Editorial Office of Zoological Research, Kunming Institute of Zoology, The Chinese Academy of Sciences",
"URL": "https://
"language": "en",
"issued": {
"date-parts": [
[
2026,
3,
1
]
]
}
}
Similar papers
The papers with a page that share the most with this one: the tools found in their code, their categories, datasets, cited references and authors, the rarest counting most.
- [1] doi:10.3390/ani16162494 [code]
- Categorical Representation of Numerosity in the Pigeon Entopallium: Coding Format and Temporal Dynamics.Journal: Animals : an open access journal from MDPIIn common: other, 11 references
- [2] doi:10.1038/s41598-026-54678-8 [code]
- Neural correlates of appetitive extinction learning: an fMRI study with actively participating pigeons.Journal: Scientific reportsIn common: other, 5 references
- [3] doi:10.1162/imag.a.1149
- An implanted lennula approach to measure neural Ca&
lt;sup& gt;2+& lt;/ sup& gt; responses in the awake marmoset visual cortex. Journal: Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.)In common: 3 references - [4] doi:10.1038/s41467-026-74816-0 [code]
- Hierarchical optimization predicts plasticity in the macaque inferior temporal cortex following object training.Journal: Nature communicationsIn common: 3 references
- [5] doi:10.1162/imag.a.1207 [code]
- Investigating the temporal dynamics and modeling of mid-level feature representations in humans.Journal: Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.)In common: 3 references
- [6] doi:10.1016/j.isci.2026.116352
- Neural correlates of innate preference for upward motion.Journal: iScienceIn common: other, 2 references
- [7] doi:10.1038/s41467-026-76098-y [code]
- A single computational objective can produce specialization of streams in visual cortex.Journal: Nature communicationsIn common: 3 references
- [8] doi:10.1016/j.isci.2026.116695 [code]
- The naive brain detects face-to-face biological motion.Journal: iScienceIn common: 2 references
- [9] doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014752 [code]
- Hierarchical feature binding in a spiking neural network model of the primate ventral visual pathway.Journal: PLoS computational biologyIn common: 2 references
- [10] doi:10.1038/s41467-026-76106-1 [code]
- Facial expression discrimination emerges from partially overlapping neural subspaces of detection and identity.Journal: Nature communicationsIn common: 2 references
Contribute
The authors of this paper can claim it, correct its record and validate its tracing map, and the maintainers of its code (its owner, or a public member of its organization) correct what it says of their repository; anyone signed in can ask for its removal. Every request goes to OSCR's own machine, which answers it; your account page follows them.
Sign in with ORCID to claim this paper as one of its authors, correct its record or validate its tracing map: when the paper's metadata lists your ORCID iD, you are recognized at once. Maintainers of its code: sign in with GitHub, then claim the repository on your account page.
Claim this paper
Correct its record
Say what each link of this record is, remove the ones that are not the paper's, add the ones that are missing. The correction becomes a new version of the record, in its Versions section.
Request its removal
To ask OSCR to remove this record, the copies of its authors' scripts or its tracing map, use the removal request page: signed in, you say who you are, what to remove and why, then review and confirm the request. Published rules decide every request (how).
Discussion, reproductions, activity
Discussion: questions and error reports about this paper and its code, from signed-in readers and its authors. It opens with sign-in.
Reproductions: reports from readers who ran the authors' code: what they reproduced, with which environment, commit and data. It opens with sign-in.
Activity: what happens around this paper: new versions of its record, its map's validation, discussions and reproductions. It opens with sign-in.