Brain pathways for learned and unlearned vocalizations differ in zebra finches

Simpson, H. Blair; Ds, Vicario

doi:10.1523/jneurosci.10-05-01541.1990

Cited by 357 publications

(340 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…This conclusion is also supported by the previous deafening and syringeal denervation results, which have been obtained from zebra finches as well (Price, 1979;Simpson and Vicario, 1990;Nordeen and Nordeen, 1992). Electrical stimulation of RA probably perturbed motor performance more pervasively than syringeal denervation because the neural control signals from RA are distributed to multiple effector systems involved in singing (Vicario, 199 1;Wild, 1993Wild, , 1994.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

Identification of a forebrain motor programming network for the learned song of zebra finches

1994

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The stereotyped delivery of sequences of vocalizations by singing zebra finches is thought to be mediated by a “central motor program.” We hypothesized that electrically stimulating, and thus perturbing, the neural components of this motor program during singing should alter the subsequent singing pattern. In contrast, perturbing the activity of other neurons in the song motor pathway that do not participate directly in generating the song temporal pattern should not affect the singing pattern. We found that unilaterally stimulating the forebrain area RA of singing birds with chronically implanted electrodes distorted ongoing syllables without changing the order or timing of ensuing syllables. However, stimulating forebrain area HVc, which projects directly to RA, altered both ongoing syllables and the ensuing song pattern. These findings indicate that syllable sequencing during singing is organized in forebrain areas above RA (including HVc) and that the resulting pattern is imposed on lower structures of the motor pathway. Furthermore, the observation that unilateral forebrain perturbation was sufficient to alter the pattern of this bilaterally organized behavior suggests that (non-auditory) feedback pathways to the forebrain exist to coordinate the two hemispheres during singing. We suggest that the study of the motor control system for birdsong has provided the most direct evidence to date for localizing the programming of a skilled motor sequence to the telencephalon.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

Identification of a forebrain motor programming network for the learned song of zebra finches

1994

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“…1b). These behavioural and neuroanatomical traits have not been found in non-vocal-learners 6 , which develop species-specific vocalizations in the absence of hearing 7 , and have no known forebrain vocalmotor control 8,9 . In non-vocal-learners, the vocal pathway is thought to consist solely of midbrain and brainstem nuclei [9][10][11] .…”

mentioning

confidence: 85%

Rudimentary substrates for vocal learning in a suboscine

et al. 2013

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Vocal learning has evolved in only a few groups of mammals and birds. The key neuroanatomical and behavioural links bridging vocal learners and non-learners are still unknown. Here we show that a non-vocal-learning suboscine, the eastern phoebe, expresses neural and behavioural substrates that are associated with vocal learning in closely related oscine songbirds. In phoebes, a specialized forebrain region in the intermediate arcopallium seems homologous to the oscine song nucleus RA (robust nucleus of arcopallium) by its neural connections, expression of glutamate receptors and singing-dependent immediate-early gene expression. Lesion of this RA-like region induces subtle but consistent song changes. Moreover, the unlearned phoebe song unexpectedly develops through a protracted ontogeny. These features provide the first evidence of forebrain vocal-motor control in suboscines, which has not been encountered in other avian non-vocal-learners, and offer a potential configuration of brain and behaviour from which vocal learning might have evolved.

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“…L ong calls and song were recorded and used as the behavioral data. Both kinds of vocalization are learned (Immelmann, 1969;Price, 1979;Z ann, 1985) and controlled by the forebrain motor pathways for production of learned sounds (Simpson and Vicario, 1990).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

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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Brain pathways for learned and unlearned vocalizations differ in zebra finches

Cited by 357 publications

References 21 publications

Identification of a forebrain motor programming network for the learned song of zebra finches

Identification of a forebrain motor programming network for the learned song of zebra finches

Rudimentary substrates for vocal learning in a suboscine

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

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