Characterization of Low-Frequency Local Field Potential Activity and Functional Network Organization in the Pigeon Nidopallium Caudolaterale Across Entrance-Related Behavioral States

Goal-directed behavior requires animals to integrate environmental information and select appropriate actions—functions commonly associated with the mammalian prefrontal cortex (PFC). The avian nidopallium caudolaterale (NCL) is functionally analogous to the PFC, but its neural activity across different actions at a decision point remains unclear. At a maze arm entrance, pigeons may enter, hesitate, or leave according to available information. We recorded local field potential (LFP) activity from the NCL in three adult pigeons performing a goal-directed maze task. Direct-enter, hesitation-leave, and no-food-leave were compared with direct-leave by analyzing the theta- and alpha-band power, interchannel coherence, functional network topology, and behavioral state decoding. Compared with direct-leave, the other three behaviors were generally accompanied by higher power and interchannel coherence in both frequency bands. The mean node strength and clustering coefficient also tended to be higher, whereas global efficiency and modularity exhibited more complex patterns. Decoding suggested that power and functional network features contained information relevant to differentiating these behavioral states, with the overall performance being highest for no-food-leave versus direct-leave. These findings indicate that NCL low-frequency neural population activity, interchannel coordination, and functional network organization are associated with entrance-related behavioral states and may contribute to entrance-related information processing and subsequent behavioral adjustment.