Neural encoding of innate preference to gravity-defying motion

Abstract

The ability to detect animate objects is a fundamental property of the animal visual system. Among the cues used to infer animacy, gravity provides an important reference for identifying animate motion. Earlier work has demonstrated that upward-moving objects, which violate gravitational constraints, elicit spontaneous attention in newborn humans and domestic chicks. However, the neural mechanisms underlying this innate predisposition remain unclear. We recorded neural activity in the nidopallium of one-week-old domestic chicks as they observed stimuli moving upward or downward. In parallel, we analyzed spontaneous behavioral responses with video-based tracking and high-speed accelerometer data. This analysis revealed a robust attentional bias toward upward-moving, gravity-defying stimuli. We identified neurons in the NCL that encode the direction of motion, most of which responded preferentially to upward movement. Moreover, the population activity of direction-sensitive neurons successfully predicted the spontaneous behavioral response to upward-moving objects.