The medial pallium and the spatial encoding of geometric and visual cues in the terrestrial toad, Rhinella arenarum

Abstract

The medial pallium (MP) of amphibians is the homologue of the mammalian hippocampus, and previous research has implicated MP for locating a using the boundary geometry of an environment. MP-lesioned, sham-operated and intact control terrestrial toads, Rhinella arenarum, were trained to locate a goal in a rectangular arena with a visual feature cue placed on one of the short walls. Whereas the sham-operated and intact subjects successfully learned to locate the goal, the MP-lesioned toads showed no evidence of learning. The data support the hypothesis that the amphibian MP is involved when the boundary geometry of an environment is used to locate a goal, which is consistent with evidence from other vertebrate groups. Curious, however, is that the MP lesions also resulted in the toads’ inability to locate the goal based on the visual feature cue. This result supports previous research and suggests that, in contrast to the hippocampal homologue of amniotes, the amphibian medial pallium plays a broader role in spatial learning processes.