Diagram showing the head direction cells of a Streaked Shearwater chick preferring the north like an internal compass. (IMAGE)

Doshisha University

Diagram showing the head direction cells of a Streaked Shearwater chick preferring the north like an internal compass.

Caption

Roughly 20% of cells in the brain (medial pallium; red triangles) increase their firing rates when the chick faces the north, while they (blue triangles) are less active when it faces other orientations (east, west, south, etc.) as shown on the left, right, and bottom. Neurons are represented by triangles, with high activity represented by red and low activity represented by blue.

Credit

Image credit: Susumu Takahashi from Doshisha University

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