Connectionists: Brains in Space (a virtual colloquium): James McLaren 17.06.2025

[Vinita Samarasinghe]

The next instalment of "Brains in Space" takes place on Tuesday *June 
17th* at *4 pm* (CEST) when Dr James McLaren, University of Oldenburg, 
presents:
*
*
*Inaugural songbird migration: Inherited headings, cue extrapolation or 
innate map-like sense?*
*
*
Most studies suggest that first-time (inaugural) songbird migrants reach 
remote non-breeding grounds by following inherited compass headings, 
using sun, star or geomagnetic cues. Several translocation studies 
suggest inaugural route-corrections, challenging this clock-and-compass 
paradigm, although with highly variable local orientations or 
trajectories. I here present results from a radio-telemetry experiment 
of inaugural songbird migrants translocated 2200 km westward across a 
strong magnetic gradient in Canada. All remotely-detected translocated 
birds (n = 36) promptly and consistently route-corrected, suggestive of 
early-learned map use. However, route-correction varied with natal 
origin, more suggestive of either switching between or extrapolating 
among (inherited) headings, contingent upon magnetic signatures. These 
results definitively reveal abilities beyond clock-and-compass among 
inaugural migrants, yet also support the primacy of compass headings. I 
discuss how evolution of such abilities likely depends on spatial 
magnetic gradients, with consequences for population-level migratory 
responses to large-scale environmental changes.*
*

Zoom link: 
https://ruhr-uni-bochum.zoom-x.de/j/67839364827?pwd=RfcIgK8OUfjkwWTNCf80ARXy118xe8.1

[Meeting ID: 678 3936 4827; Passcode: 841644]


This talk is open to the public. Please forward it to anyone whom you 
think might be interested in spatial navigation. For information 
regarding the complete line up for this semester please visit 
https://www.ini.rub.de/teaching/courses/colloquium_brains_in_space_an_interdisciplinary_research_colloquium_on_spatial_navigation_summer_term_2025/ 


-- 
Best,

Vinita


Vinita Samarasinghe M.Sc., M.A.
Science Manager

Arbeitsgruppe Computational Neuroscience <https://rub.de/cns>
Institut für Neuroinformatik
Ruhr-Universität Bochum, NB 3/73
Postfachnummer 110
Universitätstr. 150
44801 Bochum

Tel: +49 (0)234 32 27996
Mobile: +49 (0)1512 7278698
Email: samarasinghe at ini.rub.de
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/pipermail/connectionists/attachments/20250606/c8442fcb/attachment.html>