Sexual equality in zebra finch song preference: evidence for a dissociation between song recognition and production learning

Riebel, Katharina; Smallegange, Isabel M.; Terpstra, Nienke J.; Bolhuis, Johan J.

doi:10.1098/rspb.2001.1930

Cited by 140 publications

(129 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Song preference for and number of elements copied from the tutor song There was no significant correlation between preference for the tutor song and the number of elements copied from tutor song. This supports the suggestion that song production learning and song perception learning are two separate processes in zebra finch males (Riebel et al, 2002).…”

Section: Memory Versus Attentionsupporting

confidence: 78%

“…Measuring song preference and calculating number of copied elements are two methods that are often used to assess whether or how much a bird learned from a particular song (Houx and ten Cate, 1999;Riebel et al, 2002). In this study, we examined whether these two measures correlate.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Subjects were 29 male zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata), reared socially in the breeding colony of the department of Behavioural Biology, Leiden University. Birds were reared and maintained as described in a behavioral study in which 15 of them participated (Riebel et al, 2002). Briefly, birds received water and food ad libitum and were maintained on a 13.5/10.5 hr light/dark cycle.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this study, we examined whether these two measures correlate. The preference testing procedure has been described previously (Houx and ten Cate, 1999;Riebel, 2000;Riebel et al, 2002). Briefly, operant conditioning was used with song as sole reward.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nevertheless, female zebra finches can learn to recognize songs to which they have been exposed, and they develop a preference for these songs (Riebel, 2000;Riebel et al, 2002). Several studies have shown that both the NCM and the CMHV are involved in processing conspecific songs in female songbirds (Chew et al, 1996;MacDougall-Shackleton et al, 1998;Duffy et al, 1999;Gentner et al, 2001;Bailey et al, 2002;Sockman et al, 2002;Bailey and Wade, 2003;Gentner and Margoliash, 2003;Grace et al, 2003;Maney et al, 2003;Phillmore et al, 2003), as well as in female budgerigars .…”

Section: The Role Of the Cmhv In Tutor Song Representationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An Analysis of the Neural Representation of Birdsong Memory

Terpstra¹,

Bolhuis²,

Boer-Visser³

2004

J. Neurosci.

125

141

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Songbirds, such as zebra finches, learn their song from a tutor early in life. Forebrain nuclei in the "song system" are important for the acquisition and production of song. Brain regions [including the caudomedial part of the neostriatum (NCM) and of the hyperstriatum ventrale (CMHV)] outside the song system show increased neuronal activation, measured as expression of immediate early genes (IEGs), when zebra finch males are exposed to song. IEG expression in the NCM in response to tutor song is significantly positively correlated with the strength of song learning (i.e., the number of elements copied). Here, we exposed three groups of adult zebra finch males to tutor song, to their own song, or to novel conspecific song. The two control groups were included to examine an alternative explanation of our previous results in terms of variation in predisposed levels of attentiveness. Expression of Zenk, the protein product of the IEG ZENK, was measured in the NCM, CMHV, and hippocampus. There were no significant differences in overall Zenk expression between the three experimental groups. However, there was a significant positive correlation between Zenk expression in the NCM (but not in the other two regions) and strength of song learning in the males that were exposed to the tutor song. There was no such correlation in the other two groups. These results suggest that experience-related neuronal activation is specific to the tutor song and thus unlikely to be a result of differences in attention.

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Section: Memory Versus Attentionsupporting

confidence: 78%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Role Of the Cmhv In Tutor Song Representationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An Analysis of the Neural Representation of Birdsong Memory

Terpstra¹,

Bolhuis²,

Boer-Visser³

2004

J. Neurosci.

125

141

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From songs to synapses: Molecular mechanisms of birdsong memory

2011

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There are remarkable behavioral, neural, and genetic similarities between the way songbirds learn to sing and human infants learn to speak. Furthermore, the brain regions involved in birdsong learning, perception, and production have been identified and characterized in detail. In particular, the caudal medial nidopallium (the avian analog of the mammalian auditory-association cortex) has been found to contain the neural substrate of auditory memory, paving the way for analyses of the underlying molecular mechanisms. Recently, the zebra finch genome was sequenced, and annotated cDNA databases representing over 15,000 unique brain-expressed genes are available, enabling high-throughput gene expression analyses. Here we review the involvement of immediate early genes (e.g. zenk and arc), their downstream targets (e.g. synapsins), and their regulatory signaling pathways (e.g. MAPK/ERK) in songbird memory. We propose that in-depth investigations of zenk- and ERK-dependent cascades will help to further unravel the molecular basis of auditory memory.

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Adult female and male zebra finches show distinct patterns of spine deficits in an auditory area and in the song system when reared without exposure to normal adult song

et al. 2005

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Male songbirds typically require exposure to normal adult conspecific song during development in order to learn a normal song of their own. Females require exposure to conspecific song during development in order to select high-quality, learned song over the incomplete song produced by males reared in isolation. Altering males' opportunity for song learning during development affects the neuroanatomy of brain regions involved in song production (the song system), but in females the neural effects of song learning are unknown. We raised male and female zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) with differing amounts of exposure to singing males during development. At 120 days, we Golgi-stained their brains and measured the frequency of dendritic spines in brain areas used in song perception or production. We found that females reared with little or no exposure to song have 31% fewer dendritic spines per unit length of dendrite in caudomedial nidopallium (NCM), a brain area activated by song perception, compared to control females. The deprived females had small deficits in the frequency of spines in HVC, a region activated by song production in males. Males with limited exposure to song had a 24% lower spine density in HVC than controls but only a 10% lower density in NCM. These data support the hypothesis that NCM is important in auditory learning, while HVC is involved in sensorimotor learning, and that these capacities are differentially emphasized in the two sexes.

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Sexual equality in zebra finch song preference: evidence for a dissociation between song recognition and production learning

Cited by 140 publications

References 35 publications

An Analysis of the Neural Representation of Birdsong Memory

An Analysis of the Neural Representation of Birdsong Memory

From songs to synapses: Molecular mechanisms of birdsong memory

Adult female and male zebra finches show distinct patterns of spine deficits in an auditory area and in the song system when reared without exposure to normal adult song

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