Striatal network coordination tracks option value during probabilistic choice in pigeons

Animals making decisions under uncertainty must use learned value estimates to distinguish advantageous from disadvantageous options. In mammals, the striatum is a key substrate for value-related processing, but whether analogous network-level dynamics are present in birds remains unclear. Here, we recorded 16-channel local field potentials (LFPs) from the striatum of six pigeons performing a probabilistic two-choice task and combined these recordings with computational modeling of behavior. Across training, pigeons increasingly favored the advantageous option. Dynamic model comparison further showed that choice strategy changed across learning, from an early reliance on immediate feedback to a later pattern better captured by Rescorla-Wagner reinforcement-learning (RW-RL) value updating. Using trial-by-trial phase-locking values to construct weighted striatal functional networks, we found that PLV-based network coordination increased with learning and was selectively associated with the RW-RL-estimated value of the higher-payoff option, with the strongest effects in the gamma band (30-80 Hz). Within trials, network coordination evolved from the pre-choice period to the outcome period and was differentially modulated by both choice (S+ vs. S-) and reward feedback. Together, these findings suggest that avian striatal LFP network dynamics are linked to learned option value and value-guided choice, and provide comparative evidence that the avian striatum may exhibit network-level dynamics that are functionally analogous, but not necessarily identical, to aspects of mammalian striatal processing.