Neural Circuits Underlying Nest Building in Male Zebra Finches

Abstract

Nest building consists of a series of motor actions, which are concomitant with activity in regions of the anterior motor pathway, the social behaviour network and the reward circuity in nest building adult male zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata). It is not clear, however, whether this activity is due to nest building, collection and/or manipulation of nest material. To identify which areas of the brain are specifically involved, we used immunohistochemistry to quantify the immediate early gene c-fos in male zebra finches that were nest building (Building), birds given a nestbox but could interact only with tied down nest material (Fixed), and birds that were not given a nestbox or nest material (Control). We investigated the following brain regions: the anterior motor pathway (anterior ventral mesopallium (AMV), anterior nidopallium (AN), anterior striatium (ASt)), areas of the social behaviour network (bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, dorsomedial sub division (BSTmd), lateral septum (LS)), the dopaminergic reward circuitry (ventral tegmental area (VTA)) and the cerebellum. We found that there was greater Fos-ir expression in the BSTmd, LS and AMV with increased material deposition; in LS, AMV ASt and folia VI with increased material carrying; in LS, AMV and ASt with increased nest material tucking; and in LS and all folia (except folium VIII) with increased tugging at tied down material. These data confirm a functional role for areas of the anterior motor pathway, social behaviour network and the cerebellum in nest material collection and manipulation by birds.

Smart mating: the cognitive ability of females influences their preference for male cognitive ability

“…Our results show that individual performance in the detour-reaching apparatus was highly repeatable, and individuals that showed good performance in the initial trial were also good learners, improving their performance more rapidly than bad-performing males. The males' ability to solve the detour-reaching task was mirrored in the nest structure (bulk area and nest material), probably because good cognitive skills are required to build a high-quality nest ( Schaedelin and Taborsky 2009 ; Hall et al 2015 ; Edwards et al 2020 ). Contrary to our prediction, females with the strongest ability to solve the detour-reaching task did not show any preference between potential mates with different performance in the detour-reaching task, whereas the other females preferred males with good detour-reaching task performance.…”

Involvement of the neural social behaviour network during social information acquisition in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata)

“…Fos immunoreactivity (Fos-ir) was quantified in brain regions that form part of the neural social behaviour network (Dere et al, 2015;Goodson, 2005;O'Connell & Hofmann, 2011): AH, BSTmd, BSTmv, BSTI, LScv, LScvl, LSr, MS, POM and VMH; areas associated with learning and memory: dHP, mHP (O'Connell & Hofmann, 2011); and the anterior motor pathway: AMV (Edwards et al, 2020;Feenders et al, 2008;Hall et al, 2014;Heimovics & Riters, 2007).…”

Adding the neuro to cognition: from food storing to nest building

“…And indeed, under experimental conditions zebra finches will build a nest that is bigger when the ambient temperature is cooler (contains more pieces of string/material: Campbell et al 2018 ; Edwards et al 2020b ). But in the Edwards et al ( 2020a , b ) experiment, some of the birds were switched to a room with the other temperature to build a second nest: half of those that had built their first nest at 18 °C built their second nest at 30 °C, and vice versa, and half the birds built their second nest at the same temperature as that at which they had built their first. At first the data appeared to confirm that comment that one should never repeat a successful experiment because the birds did not build their second nest in response to the temperature.…”

“…For example, there is greater activity in the anterior motor pathway, which underpins sequential motor actions, and in the dopaminergic reward system as builders pick up and take more pieces of material to their nest (Hall et al 2014 ). There are also increases in activity in the social network and some cerebellar folia with various building behaviours such as carrying material, depositing material, and tucking material into the nest structure (Edwards et al 2020a ). Thus far all of these neural data show roles for motor output and reward rather than clearly contributing to understanding the cognitive components of nest building.…”