Neural song preference during vocal learning in the zebra finch depends on age and state

Nick, Teresa A.; Konishi, Masakazu

doi:10.1002/neu.20087

Cited by 88 publications

(104 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Bolhuis & Gahr (2006) suggested that during song learning there is continual interaction between regions in the auditory forebrain and the song system. Electrophysiological analyses have shown that during the first half of the sensorimotor phase (35-69 dph), neurons in the HVC of male zebra finches respond preferentially to the tutor song, whereas during the second half of the sensorimotor phase, and in adult zebra finches and whitecrowned sparrows, there is preferential responding to the BOS (Volman 1993;Nick & Konishi 2005). Recently, it was found that lesions to the HVC in zebra finch males in the early sensorimotor phase (33-44 dph) did not impair the production of subsong (Aronov et al 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Memory in the making: localized brain activation related to song learning in young songbirds

2010

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Songbird males learn to sing their songs from an adult 'tutor' early in life, much like human infants learn to speak. Similar to humans, in the songbird brain there are separate neural substrates for vocal production and for auditory memory. In adult songbirds, the caudal pallium, the avian equivalent of the auditory association cortex, has been proposed to contain the neural substrate of tutor song memory, while the song system is involved in song production as well as sensorimotor learning. If this hypothesis is correct, there should be neuronal activation in the caudal pallium, and not in the song system, while the young bird is hearing the tutor song. We found increased song-induced molecular neuronal activation, measured as the expression of an immediate early gene, in the caudal pallium of juvenile zebra finch males that were in the process of learning to sing their songs. No such activation was found in the song system. Molecular neuronal activation was significantly greater in response to tutor song than to novel song or silence in the medial part of the caudomedial nidopallium (NCM). In the caudomedial mesopallium, there was significantly greater molecular neuronal activation in response to tutor song than to silence. In addition, in the NCM there was a significant positive correlation between spontaneous molecular neuronal activation and the strength of song learning during sleep. These results suggest that the caudal pallium contains the neural substrate for tutor song memory, which is activated during sleep when the young bird is in the process of learning its song. The findings provide insight into the formation of auditory memories that guide vocal production learning, a process fundamental for human speech acquisition.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Memory in the making: localized brain activation related to song learning in young songbirds

2010

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“…The neural song system is a series of anatomically distinct clusters of neurons (nuclei) in the thalamus, basal ganglia, and pallium (cortex) that are dedicated to the production and plasticity of song (Bottjer et al 1984;Nottebohm et al 1976). The nucleus HVC (Reiner et al 2004) is a pallial brain region that controls song behavior (Nottebohm et al 1976;Vu et al 1994).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The nucleus HVC (Reiner et al 2004) is a pallial brain region that controls song behavior (Nottebohm et al 1976;Vu et al 1994). During anesthesia (Volman 1993) and sleep (Nick and Konishi 2005a), HVC always responds preferentially to the bird's own song, even very early in song development.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Top-Down Regulation of Plasticity in the Birdsong System: “Premotor” Activity in the Nucleus HVC Predicts Song Variability Better Than It Predicts Song Features

Day

Kinnischtzke²,

Adam³

et al. 2008

Journal of Neurophysiology

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Day NF, Kinnischtzke AK, Adam M, Nick TA. Top-down regulation of plasticity in the birdsong system: "premotor" activity in the nucleus HVC predicts song variability better than it predicts song features. J Neurophysiol 100: 2956 -2965. First published September 10, 2008 doi:10.1152/jn.90501.2008. We studied realtime changes in brain activity during active vocal learning in the zebra finch songbird. The song nucleus HVC is required for the production of learned song. To quantify the relationship of HVC activity and behavior, HVC population activity during repeated vocal sequences (motifs) was recorded and temporally aligned relative to the motif, millisecond by millisecond. Somewhat surprisingly, HVC activity did not reliably predict any vocal feature except amplitude and, to a lesser extent, entropy and pitch goodness (sound periodicity). Variance in "premotor" HVC activity did not reliably predict variance in behavior. In contrast, HVC activity inversely predicted the variance of amplitude, entropy, frequency, pitch, and FM. We reasoned that, if HVC was involved in song learning, the relationship of HVC activity to learned features would be developmentally regulated. To test this hypothesis, we compared the HVC song feature relationships in adults and juveniles in the sensorimotor "babbling" period. We found that the relationship of HVC activity to variance in FM was developmentally regulated, with the greatest difference at an HVC vocalization lag of 50 ms. Collectively, these data show that, millisecond by millisecond, bursts in HVC activity predict song stability on-line during singing, whereas decrements in HVC activity predict plasticity. These relationships between neural activity and plasticity may play a role in vocal learning in songbirds by enabling the selective stabilization of parts of the song that match a learned tutor model.

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“…One possibility is that feedback signals are gated in a highly dynamic fashion as a function of behavioural and/or developmental state. In fact, HVC neurons in juvenile zebra finches appear to respond more readily to auditory stimulation during periods of quiet wakefulness than do HVC neurons in adults [61,103]. However, whether this developmental difference in responsiveness extends to feedback is unclear, and recordings made in the HVC of juvenile zebra finches have failed to detect changes in singing-related action potential activity in response to acute feedback perturbations [37].…”

Section: Developmental Origins Of Auditory -Vocal Mirroringmentioning

confidence: 99%

Auditory–vocal mirroring in songbirds

Mooney

2014

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Mirror neurons are theorized to serve as a neural substrate for spoken language in humans, but the existence and functions of auditory-vocal mirror neurons in the human brain remain largely matters of speculation. Songbirds resemble humans in their capacity for vocal learning and depend on their learned songs to facilitate courtship and individual recognition. Recent neurophysiological studies have detected putative auditory-vocal mirror neurons in a sensorimotor region of the songbird's brain that plays an important role in expressive and receptive aspects of vocal communication. This review discusses the auditory and motor-related properties of these cells, considers their potential role on song learning and communication in relation to classical studies of birdsong, and points to the circuit and developmental mechanisms that may give rise to auditory-vocal mirroring in the songbird's brain.

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Neural song preference during vocal learning in the zebra finch depends on age and state

Cited by 88 publications

References 37 publications

Memory in the making: localized brain activation related to song learning in young songbirds

Memory in the making: localized brain activation related to song learning in young songbirds

Top-Down Regulation of Plasticity in the Birdsong System: “Premotor” Activity in the Nucleus HVC Predicts Song Variability Better Than It Predicts Song Features

Auditory–vocal mirroring in songbirds

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