Pair bonding in the female zebra finch: A potential role for the nucleus taeniae

Svec, Lace A.; Licht, K.; Wade, Juli

doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2009.02.003

Cited by 35 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…Deficits in the control of social behaviors were also observed in studies using male songbirds [Cheng et al, 1999;Ikebuchi et al, 2009]. Evidence from these hodological and behavioral studies combined with the results of immunohistochemical studies [Balthazart et al, 1992[Balthazart et al, , 1998Yamamoto et al, 2005] supports the view that the TnA corresponds to the mammalian medial amygdala [Reiner et al, 2004] and is involved in the control of both sexual and social behaviors [Cheng et al, 1999;Svec et al, 2009;Ikebuchi et al, 2009Ikebuchi et al, , 2013.…”

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confidence: 57%

“…Egr-1 induction was greater in response to songs than to tone pips in male and female white-throated sparrows treated with testosterone or estradiol, respectively [Earp and Maney, 2012]. Svec et al [2009] measured ZENK expression in the brains of female zebra finches after interaction with their male mates. They showed that frequency of clumping (perching together in close contact) and preening behavior was correlated with the density of ZENK-immunoreactive cells in the TnA.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Auditory Responses to Vocal Sounds in the Songbird Nucleus Taeniae of the Amygdala and the Adjacent Arcopallium

Fujii

Ikebuchi²,

Okanoya³

2016

Brain Behav Evol

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Many species of animals communicate with others through vocalizations. Over time, these species have evolved mechanisms to respond to biologically relevant vocal sounds via adaptive behaviors. Songbirds provide a good opportunity to search for the neural basis of this adaptation, because they interact with others through a variety of vocalizations in complex social relationships. The nucleus taeniae of the amygdala (TnA) is a structure located in the ventromedial arcopallium, which is akin to the mammalian medial amygdala. Studies on the anatomy and function of this nucleus have led to the speculation that the TnA is one of the possible neural substrates that represents the relevance of acoustic stimuli related to behavior. However, neural responses in this nucleus to auditory stimuli have not been studied in depth. To give a detailed description about auditory responses of the TnA in the songbird, we conducted neural recordings from the TnA and the adjacent arcopallium in adult male and female Bengalese finches under anesthesia. The birds were exposed to auditory stimuli including natural vocalizations as well as synthesized noise. We demonstrated that a substantial population of neurons in the TnA and the adjacent arcopallium responded to vocal sounds and that some neurons were selectively activated to specific stimuli. Proportions of responsive cells and stimulus-selective cells were larger in males than in females. In addition, a larger ratio of selective cells was observed in the arcopallium compared to the TnA. These findings support the idea that neuronal activity in the TnA and the neighboring area represents behavioral relevance of sounds. Further studies in electrophysiology combined with evidence from other fields, such as region-specific gene expression patterns, are required to fully understand the functions of the TnA as well as the evolution of the amygdala in songbirds and vertebrate animals.

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confidence: 57%

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confidence: 99%

Auditory Responses to Vocal Sounds in the Songbird Nucleus Taeniae of the Amygdala and the Adjacent Arcopallium

Fujii

Ikebuchi²,

Okanoya³

2016

Brain Behav Evol

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“…In zebra finches, AVT neurons in the BSTm have been found to be sensitive to social valence (Goodson et al, 2009, 2004; Goodson and Wang, 2006). There is also evidence that neurons in the extended medial amygdala are involved in the formation and maintenance of pair bonds in both zebra finches and prairie voles (Curtis and Wang, 2003; Svec et al, 2009). The extended medial amygdala and the lateral septum are integral parts of both the social behavior network and the mesolimbic reward network, so it is also possible that the present results are a function of alterations to the nonapeptide-sensitive neurons in these regions which are thought to be critical for assigning a reward value or valence to conspecifics (O’Connell and Hofmann, 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developmental effects of vasotocin and nonapeptide receptors on early social attachment and affiliative behavior in the zebra finch

Baran

Sklar

Adkins‐Regan

2016

Hormones and Behavior

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Zebra finches demonstrate selective affiliation between juvenile offspring and parents, which, like affiliation between pair partners, is characterized by proximity, vocal communication and contact behaviors. This experiment tested the hypothesis that the nonapeptide arginine vasotocin (AVT, avian homologue of vasopressin) and nonapeptide receptors play a role prior to fledging in the development of affiliative behavior. Zebra finch hatchlings of both sexes received daily intracranial injections (post-hatch days 2–8) of either AVT, Manning Compound (MC, a potent V1a receptor antagonist) or saline (vehicle control). The social development of both sexes was assessed by measuring responsiveness to isolation from the family and subsequent reunion with the male parent after fledging. In addition, we assessed the changes in affiliation with the parents, unfamiliar males, and unfamiliar females each week throughout juvenile development. Compared to controls, MC subjects showed decreased attachment to the parents and MC males did not show the normal increase in affiliative interest in opposite sex individuals as they reached reproductive maturity. In contrast, AVT subjects showed a sustained affiliative interest in parents throughout development, and males showed increased interest in opposite sex conspecifics as they matured. These results provide the first evidence suggesting that AVT and nonapeptide receptors play organizational roles in social development in a bird.

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“…Aside from prairie voles, immediate early gene expression and functional brain imaging studies are limited to humans [29,30], titi monkeys [31] and zebra finches [32]. Brain imaging studies suggest the nucleus accumbens, hypothalamus and amygdala are important for pair bonding in both humans and titi monkeys, similar to prairie voles.…”

Section: (I) Brain Regions and Circuitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of affiliation: patterns of convergence from genomes to behaviour

Fischer

Nowicki

O’Connell

2019

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Affiliative behaviours have evolved many times across animals. Research on the mechanisms underlying affiliative behaviour demonstrates remarkable convergence across species spanning wide evolutionary distances. Shared mechanisms have been identified with genomic approaches analysing genetic variants and gene expression differences as well as neuroendocrine and molecular approaches exploring the role of hormones and signalling molecules. We review the genomic and neural basis of pair bonding and parental care across diverse taxa to shed light on mechanistic patterns that underpin the convergent evolution of affiliative behaviour. We emphasize that mechanisms underlying convergence in complex phenotypes like affiliation should be evaluated on a continuum, where signatures of convergence may vary across levels of biological organization. In particular, additional comparative studies within and across major vertebrate lineages will be essential in resolving when and why shared neural substrates are repeatedly targeted in the independent evolution of affiliation, and how similar mechanisms are evolutionarily tuned to give rise to species-specific variations in behaviour. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Convergent evolution in the genomics era: new insights and directions'.

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Pair bonding in the female zebra finch: A potential role for the nucleus taeniae

Cited by 35 publications

References 54 publications

Auditory Responses to Vocal Sounds in the Songbird Nucleus Taeniae of the Amygdala and the Adjacent Arcopallium

Auditory Responses to Vocal Sounds in the Songbird Nucleus Taeniae of the Amygdala and the Adjacent Arcopallium

Developmental effects of vasotocin and nonapeptide receptors on early social attachment and affiliative behavior in the zebra finch

Evolution of affiliation: patterns of convergence from genomes to behaviour

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