Professor Mike Colombo's current research interests are in neural mechanisms of learning and memory, as well as comparative animal cognition.
Mike received his undergraduate degree in Molecular Biology and Psychology from the University of Colorado and his PhD from Rutgers University with a research emphasis on comparative animal cognition and neuroscience. Following his PhD, he was awarded an NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship to study the neural mechanisms of visual processing in monkeys at Princeton University. He joined the University of Otago in 1992.
One series of studies conducted in his lab examines how neurons in the brain code information. Information in the brain is transmitted from one neuron to the next by bursts of electricity. Using standard electrophysiological techniques, he can “listen in” to these bursts of electricity. These bursts of electricity represent a language, and his research is designed to decipher that language. Using this technique, he has explored the neural basis of memory, reward, visual processing, and gambling.
A second series of studies examines what the hippocampus contributes to learning and memory. The prevailing view is that the hippocampus is important for high forms of memory and cognition. In contrast, his studies suggest a far simpler role for the hippocampus, one involved in either detecting contingencies or navigating to points in space.
Finally, a third series of studies examines the cognitive abilities of birds. The prevailing view is that primates stand apart from other animals such as birds in their mental abilities. Research in his lab has shown that if the task is designed properly, birds can show abilities on par with most primates.
Professor Colombo has authored over 50 journal articles and one book, and has received numerous awards for his teaching.
Kakrada, E., & Colombo, M. (2023). Beyond the mark: Signatures of self-recognition in fish. Learning & Behavior. Advance online publication. doi: 10.3758/s13420-023-00586-0
Journal - Research Other
Clark, W., Chilcott, M., & Colombo, M. (2022). The effect of progressive image scrambling on neuronal responses at three stations of the pigeon tectofugal pathway. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 14190. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-18006-0
Journal - Research Article
Kakrada, E., & Colombo, M. (2022). Extending the null hypothesis to invertebrate pain sentience. Animal Sentience, 32(25), 444. doi: 10.51291/2377-7478.1754
Journal - Research Article
Clark, W., & Colombo, M. (2022). Seeing the forest for the trees, and the ground below my beak: Global and local processing in the pigeon's visual system [Mini review]. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 888528. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.888528
Journal - Research Other
Kakrada, E., & Colombo, M. (2022). Mirror mirror on the wall, it's not the mark I care about at all. Learning & Motivation, 77, 101785. doi: 10.1016/j.lmot.2022.101785
Journal - Research Other
Clark, W., Chilcott, M., Azizi, A., Pusch, R., Perry, K., & Colombo, M. (2022). Neurons in the pigeon visual network discriminate between faces, scrambled faces, and sine grating images. Scientific Reports, 12, 589. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-04559-z
Journal - Research Article
Colombo, M., Scarf, D., & Zentall, T. (2021). Editorial: The comparative psychology of intelligence: Macphail revisited. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 648782. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.648782
Journal - Research Other
Johnston, M., Scarf, D., Wilson, A., Millar, J., Bartonicek, A., & Colombo, M. (2021). The effects of hippocampal and area parahippocampalis lesions on the processing and retention of serial-order behavior, autoshaping, and spatial behavior in pigeons. Hippocampus, 31, 261-280. doi: 10.1002/hipo.23287
Journal - Research Article
Anderson, C., Parra, R. S., Chapman, H., Steinemer, A., Porter, B., & Colombo, M. (2020). Pigeon nidopallium caudolaterale, entopallium, and mesopallium ventrolaterale neural responses during categorisation of Monet and Picasso paintings. Scientific Reports, 10, 15971. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-72650-y
Journal - Research Article
Colombo, M., & Scarf, D. (2020). Are there differences in “intelligence” between nonhuman species? The role of contextual variables. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 2072. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.02072
Journal - Research Other
Bartonicek, A., & Colombo, M. (2020). Claw-in-the-door: Pigeons, like humans, display the foot-in-the-door effect. Animal Cognition, 23, 893-900. doi: 10.1007/s10071-020-01395-y
Journal - Research Article
Anderson, C., Johnston, M., Marrs, E. J., Porter, B., & Colombo, M. (2020). Delay activity in the Wulst of pigeons (Columba livia) represents correlates of both sample and reward information. Neurobiology of Learning & Memory, 171, 107214. doi: 10.1016/j.nlm.2020.107214
Journal - Research Article
Clark, W. J., & Colombo, M. (2020). The functional architecture, receptive field characteristics, and representation of objects in the visual network of the pigeon brain. Progress in Neurobiology, 195, 101781. doi: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2020.101781
Journal - Research Article
Scarf, D., & Colombo, M. (2020). Columban Simulation Project 2.0: Numerical competence and orthographic processing in pigeons and primates. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 3017. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.03017
Journal - Research Other
Johnston, M., Porter, B., & Colombo, M. (2020). Nidopallium caudolaterale neuronal response during serial-order behaviour in pigeons. Behavioural Brain Research, 378, 112269. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2019.112269
Journal - Research Article
Lord, J., van der Vliet, W., Anderson, P., Colombo, M., & Scarf, D. (2019). Very superstitious? A preliminary investigation of pigeons' body position during a matching-to-sample task under differential and common outcome conditions. International Journal of Comparative Psychology, 32. doi: 10.46867/ijcp.2019.32.00.06
Journal - Research Article
Johnston, M., Porter, B. S., & Colombo, M. (2019). Neural correlates of ordinal knowledge during serial-order tasks in pigeons. Proceedings of the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting. 782.16/Z14. SfN. Retrieved from https://www.sfn.org
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Clark, W. J., Porter, B. S., & Colombo, M. (2019). Investigating ventral stream computations in the mesopallium and entopallium of the pigeon brain. Proceedings of the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting. 488.23/M18. SfN. Retrieved from https://www.sfn.org
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Dykes, M., Porter, B. S., & Colombo, M. (2019). Neurons in the pigeon nidopallium caudolaterale, but not the corticoidea dorsolateralis display value and effort discounting related activity. Proceedings of the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting. 332.14/AA39. SfN. Retrieved from https://www.sfn.org
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Johnston, M., Porter, B., & Colombo, M. (2019). Delay activity in pigeon nidopallium caudolaterale during a variable-delay memory task [Brief communication]. Behavioral Neuroscience, 133(6), 563-568. doi: 10.1037/bne0000339
Journal - Research Other
Colombo, M. (2019). Avian brains: Primate-like functions of neurons in the crow brain. Current Biology, 29, R794-R796. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.07.001
Journal - Research Other
Colombo, M., & Scarf, D. (2019). Sheeple? The need for more research on sheep cognition. Animal Sentience, 25(12). doi: 10.51291/2377-7478.1446
Journal - Research Other
Phillips, H., McDowell, A., Mielby, B. S., Tucker, I. G., & Colombo, M. (2019). Aniracetam does not improve working memory in neurologically healthy pigeons. PLoS ONE, 14(4), e0215612. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0215612
Journal - Research Article
Clark, W. J., Porter, B., & Colombo, M. (2019). Searching for face-category representation in the avian visual forebrain. Frontiers in Physiology, 10, 140. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00140
Journal - Research Article
Colombo, M., Closs, G., & Langhorne, P. (2018, November). 40 years of higher education. Panel discussion at the Higher Education Development Centre (HEDC) Symposium: Celebrating Higher Education, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Anderson, C., Parra, R. S., & Colombo, M. (2018). Neurons in the nidopallium caudolaterale (NCL) and entopallium (ENTO) of pigeons (Columba livia) convey category information in a discrimination task between Picasso and Monet paintings. Proceedings of the Society for Neuroscience 48th Annual Meeting. 507.01/AAA26. SfN. Retrieved from https://www.sfn.org
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Scarf, D., Johnston, M., & Colombo, M. (2018). Pigeons (Columba livia) learn a four-item list by trial and error. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 132(3), 234-239. doi: 10.1037/com.0000124
Journal - Research Article
Johnston, M., Clarkson, A. N., Gowing, E. K., Scarf, D., & Colombo, M. (2018). The effects of nidopallium caudolaterale inactivation on serial-order behaviour in pigeons (Columba livia). Journal of Neurophysiology, 120(3), 1143-1152. doi: 10.1152/jn.00167.2018
Journal - Research Article
Dykes, M., Klarer, A., Porter, B., Rose, J., & Colombo, M. (2018). Neurons in the pigeon nidopallium caudolaterale display value-related activity. Scientific Reports, 8, 5377. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-23694-8
Journal - Research Article
Clark, W., & Colombo, M. (2018). Face-selective neurons: Comparative perspectives. In J. Vonk & T. Shackelford (Eds.), Encyclopaedia of animal cognition and behaviour. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_2053-1
Chapter in Book - Other
Scarf, D., & Colombo, M. (2017). Serial list learning. In J. Vonk & T. Shackelford (Eds.), Encyclopedia of animal cognition and behavior. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1507-1
Chapter in Book - Research
Colombo, M., Klarer, A., Johnston, M., & Rose, J. (2017). Prospective processing: Behavioural and neural evidence. Japanese Journal of Animal Psychology, 67(2), 47-61. doi: 10.2502/janip.67.2.2
Journal - Research Article
Scarf, D., Corballis, M. C., Güntürkün, O., & Colombo, M. (2017). Do 'literate' pigeons (Columba livia) show mirror-word generalization? Animal Cognition, 20(5), 999-1002. doi: 10.1007/s10071-017-1116-4
Journal - Research Article
Johnston, M., Anderson, C., & Colombo, M. (2017). Pigeon NCL and NFL neuronal activity represents neural correlates of the sample. Behavioral Neuroscience, 131(3), 213-219. doi: 10.1037/bne0000198
Journal - Research Article
Colombo, M., & Johnston, M. (2017). Entopallium. In J. Vonk & J. Shackelford (Eds.), Encyclopedia of animal cognition and behavior. (pp. 1-6). Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1219-1
Chapter in Book - Research
Güntürkün, O., Ströckens, F., Scarf, D., & Colombo, M. (2017). Apes, feathered apes, and pigeons: Differences and similarities. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 16, 35-40. doi: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2017.03.003
Journal - Research Other
Johnston, M., Anderson, C., & Colombo, M. (2017). Neural correlates of sample-coding and reward-coding in the delay activity of neurons in the entopallium and nidopallium caudolaterale of pigeons (Columba livia). Behavioural Brain Research, 317, 382-392. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2016.10.003
Journal - Research Article
Johnston, M., Scarf, D., Clarkson, A., & Colombo, M. (2016). The role of avian nidopallium caudolaterale in a four-item serial order task. Proceedings of the Psycolloquy Seminar. (pp. 21). Dunedin, New Zealand: Department of Psychology, University of Otago. Retrieved from http://www.otago.ac.nz/psychology/research/otago059081.html
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Anderson, C., Johnston, M., & Colombo, M. (2016). Neural correlates of memory in the nidopallium caudolaterale and nidopallium frontolaterale of pigeons (columba livia). Proceedings of the Psycolloquy Seminar. (pp. 14). Dunedin, New Zealand: Department of Psychology, University of Otago. Retrieved from http://www.otago.ac.nz/psychology/research/otago059081.html
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Johnston, M., Anderson, C., & Colombo, M. (2016). A comparison of the characteristics of delay neurons in the entopallium and nidopallium
caudolaterale of pigeons (Columba livia). In B. Leitch (Ed.), Proceedings of the 34th International Australasian Winter Conference on Brain Research. (pp. 45). AWCBR. Retrieved from http://www.otago.ac.nz/awcbr
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Scarf, D., Boy, K., Uber Reinert, A., Devine, J., Güntürkün, O., & Colombo, M. (2016). Orthographic processing in pigeons (Columba livia). PNAS, 113(40), 11272-11276. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1607870113
Journal - Research Article
Colombo, M., & Johnston, M. (2016). Introspection and anecdotes won’t prove what animals are thinking and feeling [Review of Part Three of the book Beyond words: What animals think and feel]. Animal Sentience, 1(2), 119. [Commentary].
Journal - Research Other
Kouwenhoven, M., & Colombo, M. (2016). The differential outcomes effect in pigeons (Columba livia): Is it truly anticipatory? PLoS ONE, 11(3), e0150510. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0150510
Journal - Research Article
Scarf, D., Stuart, M., Johnston, M., & Colombo, M. (2016). Visual response properties of neurons in four areas of the avian pallium. Journal of Comparative Physiology A, 202(3), 235-245. doi: 10.1007/s00359-016-1071-6
Journal - Research Article
Colombo, M., & Halberstadt, J. (2015). Adult use of Theory of Mind with in-group and out-group members. Proceedings of the Psycolloquy Seminar. (pp. 16). Dunedin, New Zealand: Department of Psychology, University of Otago. Retrieved from http://www.otago.ac.nz/psychology/research/otago059081.html
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Johnston, M., Anderson, C., Yuan, D., & Colombo, M. (2015). Examining the underlying mechanisms of the differential outcomes effect in pigeons using electrophysiology. Proceedings of the Psycolloquy Seminar. (pp. 9). Dunedin, New Zealand: Department of Psychology, University of Otago. Retrieved from http://www.otago.ac.nz/psychology/research/otago059081.html
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Colombo, M., & Scarf, D. (2015). Making clear the value of basic behavioural research: A commentary on A crisis in comparative psychology: Where have all the undergraduates gone?. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1766. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01766
Journal - Research Other
Staniland, J., Colombo, M., & Scarf, D. (2015). The Generation Effect or simply generating an effect? Journal of Comparative Psychology, 129(4), 329-333. doi: 10.1037/a0039450
Journal - Research Article
Scarf, D., Terrace, H., Colombo, M., & Magnuson, J. S. (2014). Eye movements reveal planning in humans: A comparison with Scarf and Colombo's (2009) monkeys. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 40(2), 178-184. doi: 10.1037/xan0000008
Journal - Research Article
Scarf, D., Millar, J., Pow, N., & Colombo, M. (2014). Inhibition, the final frontier: The impact of hippocampal lesions on behavioral inhibition and spatial processing in pigeons. Behavioral Neuroscience, 128(1), 42-47. doi: 10.1037/a0035487
Journal - Research Article
Scarf, D., Gross, J., Colombo, M., & Hayne, H. (2013, April). To have and to hold: Episodic memory in 3- and 4-year-old children. Poster session presented at the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) Biennial Meeting, Seattle, WA.
Conference Contribution - Poster Presentation (not in published proceedings)
Koenen, C., Millar, J., & Colombo, M. (2013). How bad do you want it? Reward modulation in the avian nidopallium caudolaterale. Behavioral Neuroscience, 127(4), 544-554. doi: 10.1037/a0033551
Journal - Research Article
Scarf, D., Gross, J., Colombo, M., & Hayne, H. (2013). To have and to hold: Episodic memory in 3- and 4-year-old children. Developmental Psychobiology, 55(2), 125-132. doi: 10.1002/dev.21004
Journal - Research Article
Scarf, D., Hayne, H., McNaughton, N., & Colombo, M. (2012). Pigeons on par with primates in numerical competence. Proceedings of the Society for Neuroscience 42nd Annual Meeting. SfN. Retrieved from http://www.sfn.org/index.aspx?pagename=abstracts_am2012
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Scarf, D., Imuta, K., Colombo, M., & Hayne, H. (2012). Social evaluation or simple association? Simple associations may explain moral reasoning in infants. PLoS ONE, 7(8), e42698. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0042698
Journal - Research Article
Colombo, M., & Scarf, D. (2012). Neurophysiological studies of learning and memory in pigeons. Comparative Cognition & Behavior Reviews, 7, 23-43. doi: 10.3819/ccbr.2012.7002
Journal - Research Article
Scarf, D., Imuta, K., Colombo, M., & Hayne, H. (2012). Golden Rule or valence matching? Methodological problems in Hamlin et al. PNAS, 109(22), E1426. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1204123109
Journal - Research Other
Scarf, D., & Colombo, M. (2011, November). Knowledge of the ordinal position of list items in pigeons. Verbal presentation at the Fall Meeting of the Comparative Cognition Society (CCS), Seattle, WA.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Scarf, D. K., Imuta, K., Colombo, M., & Hayne, H. (2011, November). Social evaluation or simple association? Verbal presentation at the International Society for Developmental Psychobiology (ISDP) 44th Annual Meeting, Washington, DC.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Scarf, D., Terrace, H. S., & Colombo, M. (2011). Planning abilities of monkeys. In R. M. Williams (Ed.), Monkeys: Biology, behavior and disorders. (pp. 137-150). New York: Nova.
Chapter in Book - Research
Scarf, D., Hayne, H., & Colombo, M. (2011). Pigeons on par with primates in numerical competence. Science, 334(6063), 1664. doi: 10.1126/science.1213357
Journal - Research Article
Scarf, D., & Colombo, M. (2011). Knowledge of the ordinal position of list items in pigeons. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 37(4), 483-487. doi: 10.1037/a0023695
Journal - Research Article
Buckingham, D., Colombo, M., & Bishop, P. (2011). Otago Teaching Excellence Awards [Panel discussion]. In K. Shephard, T. Harland & A. Cohen (Eds.), Proceedings of the Spotlight on Teaching and Learning Colloquium. (pp. 54). Dunedin, New Zealand: HEDC, University of Otago. [Abstract]
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Scarf, D., Gross, J., Colombo, M., & Hayne, H. (2011). To have and to hold: Episodic memory in 3- and 4-year-old children. Proceedings of the 17th Biennial Conference of the Australasian Human Development Association (AHDA). (pp. 110). Retrieved from http://www.otago.ac.nz/ahda2011/
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Scarf, D., Miles, K., Sloan, A., Goulter, N., Hegan, M., Seid-Fatemi, A., … Colombo, M. (2011). Brain cells in the avian 'prefrontal cortex' code for features of slot-machine-like gambling. PLoS ONE, 6(1), e14589. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0014589
Journal - Research Article
Scarf, D., Danly, E., Morgan, G., Colombo, M., & Terrace, H. S. (2011). Sequential planning in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). Animal Cognition, 14(3), 317-324. doi: 10.1007/s10071-010-0365-2
Journal - Research Article
Scarf, D., Miles, K., Sloan, A., Seid-Fatemi, A., Goulter, N., Harper, D., & Colombo, M. (2010). Neural correlates of slot machine gambling in the avian nidopallium caudolaterale. Proceedings of the 7th Forum of European Neuroscience (FENS). Retrieved from http://fens2010.neurosciences.asso.fr/abstracts/R6/A176_65.html
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Scarf, D. K., & Colombo, M. (2010, November). Representation of serial order in pigeons (Columba livia). Verbal presentation at the Fall Meeting of the Comparative Cognition Society (CCS), St. Louis, MO.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Colombo, M., & Hayne, H. (2010). Episodic memory: Comparative and developmental issues. In M. S. Blumberg, J. H. Freeman & S. R. Robinson (Eds.), Oxford handbook of developmental behavioral neuroscience. (pp. 617-636). Oxford University Press.
Chapter in Book - Research
Browning, R., Overmier, J. B., & Colombo, M. (2010). Delay activity in avian prefrontal cortex — sample code or reward code? European Journal of Neuroscience, 33(4), 726-735. doi: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2010.07540.x
Journal - Research Article
Browning, R., Overmier, J. B., Colombo, M., & McNaughton, N. (2010). Neural correlates of memory and reward anticipation in the avian prefrontal cortex. Proceedings of the Society for Neuroscience 40th Annual Meeting. SfN. Retrieved from http://www.abstractsonline.com/Plan/SSResults.aspx
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Scarf, D., & Colombo, M. (2010, November). Representation of serial order in pigeons (Columba livia). Verbal presentation at the Psycolloquy Seminar, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Scarf, D., & Colombo, M. (2010). Representation of serial order in pigeons (Columba livia). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 36(4), 423-429. doi: 10.1037/a0020926
Journal - Research Article
Colombo, M. (2010, August). Memory, gambling, and planning for the future: Explorations into the mind of another species. University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. [Inaugural Professorial Lecture].
Other Research Output
Scarf, D., & Colombo, M. (2010). A positional coding mechanism in pigeons after learning multiple three-item lists. Animal Cognition, 13, 653-661. doi: 10.1007/s10071-010-0315-z
Journal - Research Article
Scarf, D., & Colombo, M. (2010). The formation and execution of sequential plans in pigeons (Columba livia). Behavioural Processes, 83(2), 179-182. doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2009.12.004
Journal - Research Article
Scarf, D., & Colombo, M. (2009). Eye movements during list execution reveal no planning in monkeys. Proceedings of the 16th Annual International Conference On Comparative Cognition (CO3).8. Retrieved from http://www.comparativecognition.org/CO3/Proceedings/2009Talks.htm
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Browning, R., & Colombo, M. (2009, November). Remembering the reward: Neural correlates of memory and reward anticipation in the avian prefrontal cortex. Verbal presentation at the Psycolloquy Seminar, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Browning, R., & Colombo, M. (2009). Remembering the reward: Neural correlates of memory and reward anticipation in the avian prefrontal cortex. In R. Napper (Ed.), Proceedings of the 27th International Australasian Winter Conference on Brain Research.27, (pp. 48). AWCBR. Retrieved from http://psy.otago.ac.nz/awcbr/Abstracts/Abstracts2009.htm
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Scarf, D., & Colombo, M. (2009). Eye movements during list execution reveal no planning in monkeys (Macaca fascicularis). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 35(4), 587-592. doi: 10.1037/a0014020
Journal - Research Article
Colombo, M. (2008, November). Do pigeon brain cells gamble? Verbal presentation at the Psycolloquy Seminar, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Milmine, M., Rose, J., & Colombo, M. (2008). Sustained activation and executive control in the avian prefrontal cortex. Brain Research Bulletin, 76(3), 317-323. doi: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2008.02.009
Journal - Research Article
Scarf, D., & Colombo, M. (2008). Representation of serial order: A comparative analysis of humans, monkeys, and pigeons. Brain Research Bulletin, 76(3), 307-312. doi: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2008.02.022
Journal - Research Article
Bingman, V. P., Gasser, B., & Colombo, M. (2008). Responses of pigeon (Columba livia) Wulst neurons during acquisition and reversal of a visual discrimination task. Behavioral Neuroscience, 122(5), 1139-1147. doi: 10.1037/a0012586
Journal - Research Article
Milmine, M., Watanabe, A., & Colombo, M. (2008). Neural correlates of directed forgetting in the avian prefrontal cortex. Behavioral Neuroscience, 122(1), 199-209. doi: 10.1037/0735-7044.122.1.199
Journal - Research Article
Colombo, M., Milmine, M., & McNaughton, N. (2007). Neural correlates of executive control in the avian prefrontal cortex. Proceedings of the Society for Neuroscience 37th Annual Meeting. SfN. Retrieved from http://www.abstractsonline.com/viewer/SearchResults.asp
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Richmond, J., Colombo, M., & Hayne, H. (2007). Interpreting visual preferences in the visual paired-comparison task. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory & Cognition, 33(5), 823-831.
Journal - Research Article
Milmine, M., Watanabe, A., & Colombo, M. (2006, November). Neural correlates of executive control: Reward code or stimulus code? Verbal presentation at the Psycolloquy Seminar, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Colombo, M., Gulya, M., & Rovee-Collier, C. (2006). The development of serial-order behaviour: Knowledge of ordinal position. In J. R. Marrow (Ed.), Focus on child psychology research. (pp. 43-58). New York: Nova Science.
Chapter in Book - Research
Colombo, M., Gulya, M., & Rovee-Collier, C. (2006). The ontogeny of serial-order representation. In C. M. Fletcher-Flinn & G. M. Haberman (Eds.), Cognition and language: Perspectives from New Zealand. (pp. 191-206). Brisbane, Australia: Australian Academic Press.
Chapter in Book - Research
Reese, E., & Colombo, M. (2005). Memory research in the southernmost psychology department. Cognitive Processing, 6, 266-271.
Journal - Research Article
Colombo, M. (2005). The value of a comparative perspective: Theoretical comment on Pearce et al. (2005). Behavioral Neuroscience, 119(5), 1411-1414.
Journal - Research Article
Colombo, M., Francis, M., & Hayne, H. (2005, April). Age related changes in transitive inference during childhood. Poster session presented at the Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting, Atlanta, GA.
Conference Contribution - Poster Presentation (not in published proceedings)
Rose, J., & Colombo, M. (2005). Neural correlates of executive control in the avian brain. PLoS Biology, 3(6), 1139-1146.
Journal - Research Article
Kalenscher, T., Windmann, S., Diekamp, B., Rose, J., Güntürkün, O., & Colombo, M. (2005). Single units in the pigeon brain integrate reward amount and time-to-reward in an impulsive choice task. Current Biology, 15, 594-602.
Journal - Research Article
Guyla, M., & Colombo, M. (2004). The ontogeny of serial-order behavior in humans (Homo sapiens): Representation of a list. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 118(1), 71-81.
Journal - Research Article
Richmond, J., Sowerby, P., Colombo, M., & Hayne, H. (2004). The effect of familiarization time, retention interval, and context change on adults' performance in the visual paired-comparison task. Developmental Psychobiology, 44, 146-155.
Journal - Research Article
Richmond, J., Colombo, M., & Hayne, H. (2003). Interpreting performance on the visual paired-comparison task. Developmental Psychobiology.43(3), (pp. 270). [Abstract]
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Colombo, M., & Gross, J. (2003, August). The ontogeny of delayed nonmatching-to-sample performance. Verbal presentation at the XIth European Conference on Developmental Psychology, Milan, Italy.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Colombo, M. (2003). Avian and mammalian hippocampus: No degrees of freedom in evolution of function. Behavioral & Brain Sciences, 26(5), 554-555.
Journal - Research Article
Colombo, M., Cottle, A., & Frost, N. (2003). Degree of representation of the matching concept in pigeons (Columba livia). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 117(3), 246-256.
Journal - Research Article
Bilkey, D. K., Russell, N., & Colombo, M. (2003). A lightweight microdrive for single-unit recording in freely moving rats and pigeons. Methods, 30(2), 152-158. doi: 10.1016/S1046-2023(03)00076-8
Journal - Research Other
Gross, J., Hayne, H., & Colombo, M. (2002). Delayed non-matching-to-sample in 9- to 36-month-old infants. Verbal presentation at the International Conference on Infant Studies, Toronto, Canada.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Gross, J., Hayne, H., & Colombo, M. (2002). Defining ″success″ in the delayed non-matching-to-sample procedure: Has the pendulum swung too far? Verbal presentation at the International Society for Developmental Psychobiology Conference, Orlando, USA.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Colombo, M., Colombo, A., & Gross, C. G. (2002). Bartolomeo Panizza's observations on the optic nerve (1855). Brain Research Bulletin, 58(6), 529-539.
Journal - Research Article
Richmond, J., & Colombo, M. (2002). Hippocampal lesions, contextual retrieval, and autoshaping in pigeons. Brain Research, 928, 60-68.
Journal - Research Article
Gross, J., Beck, S., Colombo, M., & Hayne, H. (2001). Delayed matching- and non-matching-to-sample in 9-month-old infants. Verbal presentation at the Society for Research in Child Development, Minneapolis.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Colombo, M., & Frost, N. (2001). Representation of serial order in humans: A comparison to the findings with monkeys (Cebus apella). Psychonomic Science, 8(2), 262-269.
Journal - Research Article
Colombo, M., Broadbent, N. J., Taylor, C. S. R., & Frost, N. (2001). The role of the avian hippocampus in orientation in space and time. Brain Research, 919, 292-301.
Journal - Research Article
Colombo, M., Frost, N., & Steedman, W. (2001). Responses of ectostriatal neurons during delayed matching-to-sample behavior in pigeons (Columba livia). Brain Research, 917, 55-66.
Journal - Research Article
Rovee-Collier, C., Hayne, H., & Colombo, M. (2000). The Development of Implicit and Explicit Memory. Pennsylvania, USA: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 292p.
Authored Book - Research
Colombo, M., & Broadbent, N. (2000). Is the avian hippocampus a functional homologue of the mammalian hippocampus? Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 24, 465-484.
Journal - Research Article
Broadbent, N. J., & Colombo, M. (2000). Visual and spatial discrimination behavior following hippocampal lesions in pigeons. Psychobiology, 28(4), 463-475.
Journal - Research Article
Broadbent, N., Gallagher, S. J., & Colombo, M. (1999). Hippocampal lesions and negative patterning in pigeons. Psychobiology, 27(1), 51-56.
Journal - Research Article
Colombo, M., Fernandez, T., Nakamura, K., & Gross, C. G. (1998). Functional differentiation along the anterior-posterior axis of the hippocampus in monkeys. Journal of Neurophysiology, 80, 1002-1005.
Journal - Research Article
Colombo, M., Swain, N. R., Harper, D., & Alsop, B. (1997). The effects of hippocampal and area parahippocampalis lesions in pigeons I: Delayed matching to sample. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section B, 50(2), 149-171.
Journal - Research Article
Colombo, M., Cawley, S., & Broadbent, N. (1997). The effects of hippocampal and area parahippocampalis lesions in pigeons II: Concurrent discrimination and spatial memory. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section B, 50(2), 172-189.
Journal - Research Article
Colombo, M. W., & Gross, C. G. (1997). Hippocampus, delay neurons, and sensory heterogeneity. Behavioral & Brain Sciences, 19(4), 766-767.
Journal - Research Article
Lock, A. J., & Colombo, M. W. (1996). Comparative studies of cognitive abilities. In A. J. Lock & C. Peters (Eds.), Handbook of Human Symbolic Evolution. (pp. 596-643). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Chapter in Book - Research
White, K., Ruske, A. C. M., & Colombo, M. W. (1996). Memory procedures, performance and processes in pigeons. Cognitive Brain Research, 3, 309-317.
Journal - Research Article
Ruske, A. C. M., Harper, D. N., Colombo, M. W., & White, K. (1996). NMDA receptor action and spatial memory: the effects of MK-801 and D-cycloserine on rate of forgetting and initial discriminability. Psychobiology, 23, 277-283.
Journal - Research Article
Colombo, M. W. (1996). The effects of superior temporal cortex lesions on the processing and retention of auditory information in monkeys (Cebus apella). Journal of Neuroscience, 16, 4501-4517.
Journal - Research Article