Correlations between catecholamine levels and sexual behavior in male zebra finches

Barclay, Sharon R.; Harding, Cheryl F.; Waterman, Susanna A.

doi:10.1016/0091-3057(92)90082-q

Cited by 56 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 26 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This may account for the inability of a single systemic treatment with the standard rat dose of DSP-4 to significantly deplete telencephalic NE levels [11]. Our current results document that giving birds two systemic injections of DSP-4 spaced 10 days apart is much more effective in decreasing noradrenergic function.…”

Section: Effects Of Dsp-4 Treatment On Noradrenergic Cells and Projecsupporting

confidence: 44%

“…When DSP-4 was administered systemically, it produced significant deficits in courtship singing [11]. While brain NE levels were not significantly depleted by DSP-4 treatment, the nonsignificant decreases in NE levels in three VCN on the motor pathway (interfacial nucleus of the nidopallium -NIf, robust nucleus of the arcopallium -RA, and dorsomedial portion of the intercollicular nucleus -DM) were positively correlated with decreased frequencies of singing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…However, NE levels in two hypothalamic nuclei, the magnocellular portion of the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) and the preoptic area (POA) were also significantly lowered. In both studies [11,12], the effects on male sexual behavior appeared to be mediated by decreased attentiveness to females. Males took a longer time before beginning to court, but once they began, their behavior appeared normal.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We wanted to determine if we could significantly decrease the central NE innervation if birds were given two systemic injections of DSP-4, because a single systemic dose failed to significantly deplete central NE levels in our previous study [11]. We also wanted to verify that the hypothalamic NE innervation would be spared as it was previously when we administered DSP-4 systemically.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The noradrenergic neurotoxin N-(2-chloroethyl)-N-ethyl-2-bromobenzylamine (DSP-4) is widely used to lower brain NE to investigate the functions of the central noradrenergic system [7,11,12,55,64]. When administered systemically in rats, DSP-4 crosses the blood-brain barrier and causes rapid, profound, long-term decreases in NE and markers of noradrenergic function in the cortex but leaves hypothalamic NE function relatively unaltered [39,58].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Neurotoxic effects of DSP-4 on the central noradrenergic system in male zebra finches

Waterman¹

2008

Behavioural Brain Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Effects Of Dsp-4 Treatment On Noradrenergic Cells and Projecsupporting

confidence: 44%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Neurotoxic effects of DSP-4 on the central noradrenergic system in male zebra finches

Waterman¹

2008

Behavioural Brain Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Noradrenergic system of the zebra finch brain: Immunocytochemical study of dopamine-?-hydroxylase

1998

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Oscine birds are among the few animal groups that have vocal learning, and their brains contain a specialized system for song learning and production. We describe here the immunocytochemical distribution of dopamine-beta-hydroxylase (DBH), a noradrenergic marker, in the brain of an oscine, the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata). DBH-positive cells were seen in the locus coeruleus, the nucleus subcoeruleus ventralis, the nucleus of the solitary tract, and the caudolateral medulla. Immunoreactive fibers and varicosities had a much wider brain distribution. They were particularly abundant in the hippocampus, septum, hypothalamus, area ventralis of Tsai, and substantia nigra, where they formed dense pericellular arrangements. Significant immunoreactivity was observed in auditory nuclei, including the nucleus mesencephalicus lateralis pars dorsalis, the thalamic nucleus ovoidalis, field L, the shelf of the high vocal center (HVC), and the cup of the nucleus robustus archistriatalis (RA), as well as in song control nuclei, including the HVC, RA, the lateral magnocellular nucleus of the anterior neostriatum, and the dorsomedial nucleus (DM) of the intercollicular complex. Except for the DM, DBH immunoreactivity within song nuclei was comparable to that of surrounding tissues. Conspicuously negative were the lobus paraolfactorius, including song nucleus area X, and the paleostriatum. Our results are in agreement with previous studies of the noradrenergic system performed in nonoscines. More importantly, they provide direct evidence for a noradrenergic innervation of auditory and song control nuclei involved in song perception and production, supporting the notion that noradrenaline is involved in vocal communication and learning in oscines.

show abstract

Development of the catecholaminergic innervation of the song system of the male zebra finch

1996

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Catecholamines (CA) have been proposed to have neuromodulatory actions, particularly on attention and learning, in a number of neural systems. Because several of the interconnected brain nuclei that mediate song learning and production in the adult male zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) contain these neurotransmitters, we investigated the appearance of the catecholaminergic innervation of the song nuclei of male zebra finches during posthatch development, specifically during the period in which song learning occurs. We studied the development of immunoreactivity for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) in the song nuclei HVc, RA, NIf, LMAN, and Area X in young males aged 20, 35, and 60 days as well as in adults (>90 days). We also visualized catecholamines directly in Area X using CA histofluorescence. Both TH immunoreactivity and CA histofluorescence were initially low in Area X relative to their levels in the surrounding parolfactory lobe (LPO), and then increased during development to become more intense than in LPO by days 60–90. Similarly, TH immunoreactivity in HVc was initially low relative to that in the surrounding neostriatum, then increased during development to become more intense than that in the surround by day 60. TH immunostaining also increased markedly in NIf, RA, and LMAN over the same period. These results show that the levels of catecholamines and their major synthetic enzyme increase in song nuclei during development and thus raise the possibility that these transmitters contribute to the development of the song system or to song learning. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

show abstract

Correlations between catecholamine levels and sexual behavior in male zebra finches

Cited by 56 publications

References 26 publications

Neurotoxic effects of DSP-4 on the central noradrenergic system in male zebra finches

Neurotoxic effects of DSP-4 on the central noradrenergic system in male zebra finches

Noradrenergic system of the zebra finch brain: Immunocytochemical study of dopamine-?-hydroxylase

Development of the catecholaminergic innervation of the song system of the male zebra finch

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About