Hemispheric Specialization in the Primary Auditory Area of Awake and Anesthetized Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris).

George, Isabelle; Vernier, Baptiste; Richard, Jean‐Pierre; Hausberger, Martine; Cousillas, Hugo

doi:10.1037/0735-7044.118.3.597

Cited by 39 publications

(32 citation statements)

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“…Bilateral asymmetry with either left-sided or right-sided dominance, or differential dual specialization, has been previously observed in songbirds in relation to both central and peripheral control of song production (49)(50)(51)(52). As far as song perception is concerned, increased neuronal responsiveness to behaviorally relevant song stimuli has been observed in the field L complex and HVC on the right side in starlings (53,54). Right hemispheric specialization is seen only in awake birds.…”

Section: Familiar Song Stimuli Show Selective Differential Topographymentioning

confidence: 83%

Functional MRI of the zebra finch brain during song stimulation suggests a lateralized response topography

Voss

Tabelow

Polzehl

et al. 2007

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Electrophysiological and activity-dependent gene expression studies of birdsong have contributed to the understanding of the neural representation of natural sounds. However, we have limited knowledge about the overall spatial topography of song representation in the avian brain. Here, we adapt the noninvasive functional MRI method in mildly sedated zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) to localize and characterize song driven brain activation. Based on the blood oxygenation level-dependent signal, we observed a differential topographic responsiveness to playback of bird's own song, tutor song, conspecific song, and a pure tone as a nonsong stimulus. The bird's own song caused a stronger response than the tutor song or tone in higher auditory areas. This effect was more pronounced in the medial parts of the forebrain. We found left-right hemispheric asymmetry in sensory responses to songs, with significant discrimination between stimuli observed only in the right hemisphere. This finding suggests that perceptual responses might be lateralized in zebra finches. In addition to establishing the feasibility of functional MRI in sedated songbirds, our results demonstrate spatial coding of song in the zebra finch forebrain, based on developmental familiarity and experience.imaging ͉ learning ͉ memory B irdsong is studied as a model of vocal learning, perception, production, and motor abnormalities of speech (1, 2). There are interesting parallels between song development and speech development (3) and between auditory and vocal pathways in the songbird and human brain (4). Therefore, insights from experiments on songbirds may contribute to the understanding of auditory and vocal function in humans. For example, minimal models of speech dyspraxia (5) and dysfluencies such as stuttering are being developed in zebra finches (6). Zebra finches are capable of learning, producing, perceiving, and discriminating complex sound patterns. Birdsong in zebra finches consists of a sequence of distinctive sounds produced by males and is characterized by a consistent and reproducible acoustic profile. Song is learned by imitating the song of an adult conspecific tutor during a sensitive period of development (7-10). Recently, it has been shown that songbirds are able to learn recursive syntactic patterns, presumably a simple form of grammar (11), thus extending the potential applicability of the birdsong model to our understanding of the biological basis of languages. Several brain structures are required for learning, production, and perception of birdsong. It is known from electrophysiological studies that song learning nuclei, such as the lateral magnocellular nucleus of the anterior nidopallium (LMAN) and X (12), play an important role in song development. In parallel with song motor learning, auditory song selectivity gradually emerges during development (13-17). Robust sensory responses to auditory stimuli have been recorded in the primary auditory area in the caudal telencephalic region (field L), the caudomedial nidopallium (N...

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Section: Familiar Song Stimuli Show Selective Differential Topographymentioning

confidence: 83%

Functional MRI of the zebra finch brain during song stimulation suggests a lateralized response topography

Voss

Tabelow

Polzehl

et al. 2007

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…Using three alcohols and one binary mixture as odourants, we found that odour processing is asymmetric: the neural odour representations were more separated in the right AL, and bees with only their right antenna in use were better in segregating a target odour from a background odour in a cross-adaptation experiment. Similarly, in vertebrates the discriminatory power of sensory representations can be lateralized, as has been shown in the visual system of birds [27][28][29][30][31] both behaviourally and physiologically (fMRI during a discrimination task described in [31], electrophysiological recordings in the primary auditory area in [30] and in the auditory system of bats [32]; the latter was revealed by measuring inter-stimuli Euclidean distances).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Asymmetric neural coding revealed by in vivo calcium imaging in the honey bee brain

et al. 2015

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Left-right asymmetries are common properties of nervous systems. Although lateralized sensory processing has been well studied, information is lacking about how asymmetries are represented at the level of neural coding. Using in vivo functional imaging, we identified a population-level left-right asymmetry in the honey bee's primary olfactory centre, the antennal lobe (AL). When both antennae were stimulated via a frontal odour source, the interodour distances between neural response patterns were higher in the right than in the left AL. Behavioural data correlated with the brain imaging results: bees with only their right antenna were better in discriminating a target odour in a cross-adaptation paradigm. We hypothesize that the differences in neural odour representations in the two brain sides serve to increase coding capacity by parallel processing.

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“…In order to test this hypothesis (see also George et al, 2004) we counted, at each recording site, the number of stimuli that produced an activation. We could then have an idea of the level of neuronal specialization in these diVerent sub-areas.…”

Section: Comparisons Withmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional organization of the forebrain auditory centres of the European starling: A study based on natural sounds

Cousillas¹,

Leppelsack²,

Leppelsack³

et al. 2005

Hearing Research

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Hemispheric Specialization in the Primary Auditory Area of Awake and Anesthetized Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris).

Cited by 39 publications

References 50 publications

Functional MRI of the zebra finch brain during song stimulation suggests a lateralized response topography

Functional MRI of the zebra finch brain during song stimulation suggests a lateralized response topography

Asymmetric neural coding revealed by in vivo calcium imaging in the honey bee brain

Functional organization of the forebrain auditory centres of the European starling: A study based on natural sounds

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