Metabolic activity in the hyperstriatum of 2-day-old chicks during optomotor and contrasting visual stimulation

Our earlier report of differences in metabolic activity within the visual regions of the hyperstriatum and ectostriatum, in 2-day-old chicks compared with 23-day-old chicks, suggested that two visual pathways within the visual system develop at different rates. Here we have investigated whether the demands of varying visual environments will increase the activity of the hyperstriatum accessorium (HA) in 2-day-olds. Metabolic activity in the HA was monitored in 2-day-old chicks by the radioactive 2-deoxyglucose technique during monocular stimulation with three different visual environments: moving stripes in a rotating drum, which induced eye and head movements, a featureless white environment, and the complex visual environment of the home cage with other chicks. Although a small but significant level of activity was found in HA in the hemisphere opposite the open eye, the activity did not vary with the visual treatment. On the other hand, a raised level of activity in the hyperstriatum dorsale (HD) appeared in chicks viewing the rotating stripes, indicating that at this age the thalamo-hyperstriatal pathway may be involved in processing whole-field visual movement. The optomoter environment also produced high activity in the medial hyperstriatum ventrale (MHV), a region that has been implicated in memory formation of imprinting. We suggest that during the sensitive period for imprinting, HA may either have not developed its fully functional capacity, or that following or during imprinting it is actively shut down to protect itself and associated regions from interfering visual input. In contrast to the 2-day-olds, 17-day-old chicks in a visually rich cage environment, had high levels of activity in HA, demonstrating that the functional maturation of the HA, related to performance in the cage environment, is complete at least 6 days earlier than previously observed.