GABA function regulates critical period for song learning in zebra finch

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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Early song-deprivation affects the expression of protein kinase C in the song control nuclei of the zebra finch during a sensitive period of song learning

Neuroreport ◽

10.1097/00001756-199708180-00002 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 8 (12) ◽

pp. 2645-2650 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Hironobu Sakaguchi ◽

Ayako Yamaguchi

Keyword(s):

Protein Kinase C ◽

Protein Kinase ◽

Zebra Finch ◽

Song Learning ◽

Sensitive Period ◽

Kinase C ◽

Song Control Nuclei ◽

Song Control

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Neuronal mechanisms regulating the critical period of sensory experience-dependent song learning

Neuroscience Research ◽

10.1016/j.neures.2018.11.002 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 140 ◽

pp. 53-58 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Yoko Yazaki-Sugiyama

Keyword(s):

Critical Period ◽

Sensory Experience ◽

Song Learning ◽

Neuronal Mechanisms

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Auditory-vocal cholinergic pathway in the songbird brain

Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology ◽

10.1139/y00-103 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 78 (12) ◽

pp. 1072-1076 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Rui Li ◽

Ikuo Taniguchi ◽

Hironobu Sakaguchi

Keyword(s):

Zebra Finch ◽

Basal Forebrain ◽

Cholinergic Neurons ◽

Auditory Pathway ◽

Song Learning ◽

Cholinergic Innervation ◽

Auditory Information ◽

Cholinergic Pathway ◽

Song Control Nuclei ◽

Song Control

Male zebra finches learn to imitate a tutor's song through auditory and motor learning. The two main song control nuclei in the zebra finch forebrain, the higher vocal center (HVC) and the robust nucleus of the archistriatum (RA), receive cholinergic innervation from the ventral paleostriatum (VP) of the basal forebrain which may play a key role in song learning. By injecting neuroanatomical tracers, we found a topographically segregated pathway from nucleus ovoidalis (Ov) to VP that in turn projects in a topographic fashion to HVC and RA. Ov is a major relay in the main ascending auditory pathway. The results suggest that the cholinergic neurons in the VP responsible for song learning are regulated by auditory information from the Ov.Key words: auditory pathway, cholinergic pathway, song control nucleus, zebra finch.

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