Brain activation pattern depends on the strategy chosen by zebra finches to solve an orientation task.

Zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) were trained to find food in one of four feeders on the floor of an aviary. This feeder was always in the same place during training and was additionally marked by a distinct pattern. In the test trial the distinctly patterned feeder was interchanged with one of the other feeders, so that the birds had to decide to use either the pattern or the original location for finding food. Half of the birds used one strategy and half used the other. According to the strategy applied, different brain areas were activated, as demonstrated by c-Fos immunohistochemistry. The hippocampus was activated when spatial cues were used, while in birds orienting using the pattern of the feeder, part of the collothalamic (tectofugal) visual system showed stronger activation. The visual wulst of the lemnothalamic (thalamofugal) visual system was activated with both strategies, indicating an involvement in both spatial and pattern-directed orientation. Because the experimental situation was the same for all zebra finches, the activation pattern was only dependent on the strategy that was voluntarily chosen by each of the birds.