Rate My Professor Mike Colombo

Colombo's research examines the neural mechanisms of visual processing, learning, and memory, as well as comparative animal cognition. He uses electrophysiological techniques to analyze neuronal activity related to memory coding, reward, and visual processing, and studies the hippocampus's role in detecting contingencies and spatial navigation. His work on avian cognition, particularly in pigeons, demonstrates cognitive abilities comparable to primates in tasks such as numerical competence and serial order representation when appropriately designed. Supported by grants from the Marsden Foundation, Neurological Foundation of New Zealand, Health Research Council, and Otago Research Grants, Colombo has authored over 100 journal articles and co-authored the book 'The Development of Implicit and Explicit Memory' (2001) with Carolyn Rovee-Collier and Harlene Hayne. Key publications include 'Is the avian hippocampus a functional homologue of the mammalian hippocampus?' (2000), 'Pigeons on par with primates in numerical competence' (2011), 'Neural correlates of executive control in the avian brain' (2005), and recent papers such as 'Beyond the mark: Signatures of self-recognition in fish' (2024) and 'Global and local processing in the pigeon's visual system' (2022).