The hippocampus and caudomedial neostriatum show selective responsiveness to conspecific song in the female zebra finch

Abstract

The perception of song is vital to the reproductive success of both male and female songbirds. Several neural structures underlying this perception have been identified by examining expression of immediate early genes (IEGs) following the presentation of conspecific or heterospecific song. In the few avian species investigated, areas outside of the circuit for song production contain neurons that are active following song presentation, specifically the caudal hyperstriatum ventrale (cHV) and caudomedial neostriatum (NCM). While studied in detail in the male zebra finch, IEG responses in these neural substrates involved in song perception have not been quantified in females. Therefore, adult female zebra finches were presented with zebra finch song, nonzebra finch song, randomly generated tones, or silence for 30 min. One hour later they were sacrificed, and their brains removed, sectioned, and immunocytochemically processed for FOS expression. Animals exposed to zebra finch song had a significantly higher density of FOS-immunoreactive cells in the NCM than those presented with other songs, tones, or silence. Neuronal activation in the cHV was equivalent in birds that heard zebra finch and non-zebra finch song, expression that was higher than that observed in the groups that heard no song. Interestingly, the hippocampus (HP) and adjacent parahippocampal area (AHP) were activated in a manner comparable to the NCM. These results suggest a general role for the cHV in song perception and a more specific role for the NCM and HP/AHP in facilitating recognition of and responsiveness to species-specific song in female zebra finches.

Subcellular compartmentalization of aromatase is sexually dimorphic in the adult zebra finch brain

“…These areas are critical modulators of singing behavior (Nottebohm and Arnold, 1976) and song recognition (Mello et al, 1992;Chew et al, 1996;Bailey et al, 2002;Bailey and Wade, 2003). It is possible that synaptic aromatase may contribute to these processes in the zebra finch.…”

An Analysis of the Neural Representation of Birdsong Memory

“…Nevertheless, female zebra finches can learn to recognize songs to which they have been exposed, and they develop a preference for these songs (Riebel, 2000;Riebel et al, 2002). Several studies have shown that both the NCM and the CMHV are involved in processing conspecific songs in female songbirds (Chew et al, 1996;MacDougall-Shackleton et al, 1998;Duffy et al, 1999;Gentner et al, 2001;Bailey et al, 2002;Sockman et al, 2002;Bailey and Wade, 2003;Gentner and Margoliash, 2003;Grace et al, 2003;Maney et al, 2003;Phillmore et al, 2003), as well as in female budgerigars . Preliminary results from our own laboratory indicate that, in female zebra finches, the CMHV may be part of the neural representation of learned tutor song (Terpstra et al, 2001).…”

Effects of season, testosterone and female exposure on c-fos expression in the preoptic area and amygdala of male green anoles

“…All tissue was processed for c-fos immunohistochemistry in one run (as in Bailey et al, 2002;Wade, 2003, 2005). Briefly, after warming slides to room temperature, sections were rinsed, fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde and incubated in 0.5% hydrogen peroxide for 30 min followed by a 1-h incubation in 4% normal donkey serum in 0.1 M PBS with 0.3% Triton X-100.…”