scholarly journals A Comparison of Habituation Rates in Adult-Born and General Population Neurons in the Zebra Finch Caudomedial Nidopallium

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lila Hart Levinson
Keyword(s):  
General Population ◽  
Zebra Finch ◽  
Caudomedial Nidopallium

scholarly journals Functional connectivity strength within the auditory forebrain is altered by song learning and predicts song stereotypy in developing male zebra finches

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elliot A. Layden ◽  
Kathryn E. Schertz ◽  
Marc G. Berman ◽  
Sarah E. London
Keyword(s):  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Zebra Finch ◽  
Resting State Fmri ◽  
Zebra Finches ◽  
Auditory Forebrain ◽  
Sensory Learning ◽  
Functional Connectivity Strength ◽  
Caudomedial Nidopallium ◽  
Single Cluster ◽  
Connectivity Strength

AbstractMuch as humans acquire speech in early childhood, the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) songbird learns to sing from an adult “tutor” during the first three months of life. Within a well-defined critical period (CP), juvenile zebra finches memorize a tutor song that will guide subsequent motor patterning. This sensory learning process is mediated by tutor experience-dependent neuroplasticity within the auditory forebrain. Here, we used longitudinal resting-state fMRI analyses to investigate whether tutor experience also modifies patterns of functional connectivity (FC) within the juvenile zebra finch brain. Eighteen male zebra finches (only males sing) were scanned before, during, and at the end of the CP, as well as at the young adult stage. Prior to the onset of the CP, birds were separated into rearing conditions: Normal (aviary-housed; N=5), Tutored (one adult male tutor and one adult female; N=7), and Isolate (two adult females, isolated from male song; N=6). Brain-wide voxel-wise analyses identified a single cluster overlapping the left caudomedial nidopallium (NCM) of the auditory forebrain that showed developmentally decreasing FC strength in Isolates but stable or increasing FC in Normal and Tutored birds. Additionally, FC between left NCM and left dorsal cerebellum showed a parallel developmental difference. Developmental changes in left NCM FC strength statistically mediated condition-related differences in song stereotypy. These results extend previous reports of tutor experience-dependent plasticity in NCM at epigenetic, genomic, molecular, and cellular levels to the whole-brain functional network level by demonstrating that tutor experience also influences the development of NCM FC. Moreover, these results link NCM FC to the emergence of song stereotypy.

scholarly journals Deafening decreases neuronal incorporation in the zebra finch caudomedial nidopallium (NCM)

2010 ◽  
Vol 211 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn L. Pytte ◽  
Carole Parent ◽  
Sara Wildstein ◽  
Christy Varghese ◽  
Sarah Oberlander
Keyword(s):  
Zebra Finch ◽  
Caudomedial Nidopallium

scholarly journals Aromatase is pre-synaptic and sexually dimorphic in the adult zebra finch brain

2005 ◽  
Vol 272 (1576) ◽  
pp. 2089-2096 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Scott Peterson ◽  
Lakshmi Yarram ◽  
Barney A Schlinger ◽  
Colin J Saldanha
Keyword(s):  
Zebra Finch ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Projection Neurons ◽  
Aromatase Activity ◽  
Sexually Dimorphic ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Synaptic Boutons ◽  
Caudomedial Nidopallium ◽  
Vertebrate Central Nervous System

Oestrogens organize and activate circuits within the vertebrate central nervous system. Oestrogen synthesis occurs via the expression of aromatase, a P 450 enzyme detected in microsomes and more recently in pre-synaptic boutons. Synaptic aromatase has only been described in brain regions that express aromatase in many subcellular compartments, so its function remains poorly understood. To more thoroughly study the role of oestrogen synthesis at synaptic terminals, we examined the ultrastructural compartmentalization of aromatase in the zebra finch; a species in which high aromatase activity can be measured in brain areas that do not contain somal aromatase. Here, we report the presence of aromatase in pre-synaptic boutons in the hippocampus and the high vocal centre brain areas with low and undetectable somal aromatase, respectively, in addition to areas with abundant somal aromatase such as the preoptic area and caudomedial nidopallium. At these brain areas, males had more total synapses, more aromatase pre-synaptic boutons and importantly, the proportion of total synaptic profiles that expressed aromatase was significantly higher in males relative to females. Aromatase-positive pre-synaptic boutons were always observed innervating aromatase-negative post-synaptic elements. We conclude that oestrogen may be provided to discrete oestrogen-sensitive targets by synaptic aromatization. Further, some targets may be exposed to more oestrogen in males. The expression of aromatase in individual synapses of projection neurons represents a unique mechanism of neuroendocrine action. Neurons with steroidogenic capability may modulate distant targets with the specificity of axonal innervation.

scholarly journals Norephinephrine in the avian auditory cortex enhances developmental song learning

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yining Chen ◽  
Jon T. Sakata
Keyword(s):  
Zebra Finch ◽  
Critical Period ◽  
Song Learning ◽  
Previous Exposure ◽  
Critical Periods ◽  
Auditory Learning ◽  
Crucial Step ◽  
Sensory Learning ◽  
Vocal Signals ◽  
Caudomedial Nidopallium

Sensory learning during critical periods in development has lasting effects on behavior. Neuromodulators like dopamine and norepinephrine (NE) have been implicated in various forms of sensory learning, but little is known about their contribution to sensory learning during critical periods. Songbirds like the zebra finch communicate with each other using vocal signals (e.g., songs) that are learned during a critical period in development, and the first crucial step in song learning is memorizing the sound of an adult conspecific's (tutor's) song. Here we analyzed the extent to which NE modulates the auditory learning of a tutor's song and the fidelity of song imitation. Specifically, we paired infusions of NE or vehicle into the caudomedial nidopallium (NCM) with brief epochs of song tutoring. We analyzed the effect of NE in juvenile zebra finches that had or had not previously been exposed to song. Regardless of previous exposure to song, juveniles that received NE infusions into NCM during song tutoring produced songs that were more acoustically similar to the tutor song and that incorporated more elements of the tutor song than juveniles with control infusions. These data support the notion that NE can regulate the formation of sensory memories that shape the development of vocal behaviors that are used throughout an organism's life.

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