The effects of castration on song development in zebra finches (<i>Poephila guttata</i>)

Arnold, Arthur P.

doi:10.1002/jez.1401910212

Cited by 171 publications

(121 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…By 1 month after the initial recording, the durations of matched sequences were shortened on average by 1.5% of their initial values, and by the final recording session the durations had shortened by 7% of their initial values. This finding is consistent with the observation of Arnold (1975) that songs of normal zebra finches can speed up after 90 d of age and indicates that there continue to be subtle changes to normal song beyond the nominal age of song "crystallization. "…”

Section: Changes To Song Temposupporting

confidence: 90%

“…Previous studies of the development of zebra finch song have reported that by this age individual birds have learned a fairly stable and stereotyped song ("crystallized song") that they will maintain with little modification throughout life (Immelmann, 1969;Arnold, 1975;Scharff and Nottebohm, 1991;Bottjer and Hewer, 1992;Williams and Mehta, 1999;Lombardino and Nottebohm, 2000). Our recordings from normal (control) zebra finches were generally consistent with this view.…”

Section: Control Birdssupporting

confidence: 86%

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Postlearning Consolidation of Birdsong: Stabilizing Effects of Age and Anterior Forebrain Lesions

2001

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Birdsong is a learned, sequenced motor skill. For the zebra finch, learned song normally remains unchanging beyond early adulthood. However, stable adult song will gradually deteriorate after deafening (Nordeen and Nordeen, 1992), indicating an ongoing influence of auditory feedback on learned song. This plasticity of adult song in response to deafening gradually declines with age (Lombardino and Nottebohm, 2000), suggesting that, after song learning, there continue to be changes in the brain that progressively stabilize the song motor program. A qualitatively similar stabilization of learned song can be precipitated artificially by lesions of a basal ganglia circuit in the songbird anterior forebrain (Brainard and Doupe, 2000), raising the question of whether and how these two forms of song stabilization are related. We investigated this issue by characterizing the deterioration of song that occurs after deafening in young adult birds and the degree to which that deterioration is reduced by age or by lesions of the anterior forebrain that were directed at the lateral portion of the magnocellular nucleus of the anterior neostriatum (LMAN). In most respects, LMAN lesions stabilized song to a significantly greater extent than did aging; whereas old-deafened birds eventually exhibited significant deterioration of song, lesioned-deafened birds generally did not differ from controls. The one exception was for song tempo, which was significantly stabilized by age, but not by LMAN lesions. The results indicate that LMAN lesions do not simply mimic a normal aging process, and likewise suggest that the anterior forebrain pathway continues to play a role even in the residual song plasticity that is observed after the agedependent stabilization of song.

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Section: Changes To Song Temposupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Control Birdssupporting

confidence: 86%

Postlearning Consolidation of Birdsong: Stabilizing Effects of Age and Anterior Forebrain Lesions

2001

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“…All males sang audible songs, whereas no female did (one produced "chattering sounds"). A second study (Arnold, 1975b), in which male zebra finches received surgery at 9 -17 days of age, found few differences between castrates and controls. Castrates did tend to develop song more slowly than control birds, but removal of the testes did not prevent the development of song learned from adult male tutors.…”

Section: Post-hatching Manipulationsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Zebra finch sexual differentiation: The aromatization hypothesis revisited

Wade

2001

Microscopy Res & Technique

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Zebra finches have emerged as an outstanding model system for the investigation of the mechanisms regulating brain and behavior. Their song system has proven especially useful, as the function of discrete anatomical regions have been identified, and striking parallels exist between the morphology of these regions and the level of their function in males and females. That is, the structures are substantially more developed in males, who sing, compared to females, who do not. These parallels extend from higher (telencephalic) centers to the brainstem motor nucleus that innervates the muscles of the vocal organ. Other dimorphic aspects of reproduction in the zebra finch, such as copulatory behaviors and sexual partner preference, however, are not associated with known sex differences in anatomy. In many species, sex differences in neural and peripheral structures and behavior are regulated by secretions from the gonads, which of course are sexually dimorphic themselves. In birds, sex differences at all of these levels (gonad, brain, and behavior) can be mediated by steroid hormones. However, it is not entirely clear that gonadal secretions normally participate at all of the levels. This paper reviews the evidence relating to the role of gonadal steroids in the sexual differentiation of reproductive behaviors and the central and peripheral structures known to regulate them in zebra finches, with a focus on estradiol, which has been most extensively studied in the masculinization of song system morphology and function.

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“…Zebra finch males reared in a captive colony master the imitation of adult models by the time they reach sexual maturity, 80 -90 d after hatching (Immelmann, 1969;Arnold, 1975a;Price, 1979;Böhner, 1990;Volman and Khanna, 1995). This conversion of an auditory model into a motor replica occurs only once, during the so-called "sensitive period" for song learning (but see Eales, 1985Eales, , 1987Morrison and Nottebohm, 1993).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Age at Deafening Affects the Stability of Learned Song in Adult Male Zebra Finches

2000

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Male zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) master the imitation of a song model 80-90 d after hatching and retain it with little change for the rest of their lives. Acquisition and maintenance of this imitation require intact hearing. A previous report showed that male zebra finches deafened as adults start to lose some of the acoustic and temporal features of their song a few weeks after deafening and that by 16 weeks the learned song is severely degraded (Nordeen and Nordeen, 1992). However, this previous study noted no correlation between the age at deafening and the subsequent timing and extent of song loss. We deafened adult male zebra finches ranging in age from 81 d to 6 years. The song of birds deafened at the younger ages (81-175 d) deteriorated severely after a few weeks, and within that age bracket, the older the bird was at deafening, the longer it took for this degradation to occur and the slower the subsequent process of song deterioration. The song of birds deafened at 2 years and older showed little change during the first 51 weeks after deafening but was grossly altered by 100 weeks. We suggest (1) that this age effect could be independent of experience or (2) that each time a bird sings, a little bit of learning-motor engrainment-occurs, adding to memory duration in a cumulative manner.

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The effects of castration on song development in zebra finches (Poephila guttata)

Cited by 171 publications

References 17 publications

Postlearning Consolidation of Birdsong: Stabilizing Effects of Age and Anterior Forebrain Lesions

Postlearning Consolidation of Birdsong: Stabilizing Effects of Age and Anterior Forebrain Lesions

Zebra finch sexual differentiation: The aromatization hypothesis revisited

Age at Deafening Affects the Stability of Learned Song in Adult Male Zebra Finches

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