Life-Stage Dependent Plasticity in the Auditory System of a Songbird Is Signal and Emitter-Specific
Social animals flexibly use a variety of vocalizations to communicate in complex and dynamic environments. However, it remains unknown whether the auditory perception of different vocalizations changes according to the ecological context. By using miniature wireless devices to synchronously record v...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2020-12-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2020.588672/full |
| _version_ | 1818602628709351424 |
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| author | Nicolas M. Adreani Nicolas M. Adreani Pietro B. D’Amelio Pietro B. D’Amelio Manfred Gahr Andries ter Maat |
| author_facet | Nicolas M. Adreani Nicolas M. Adreani Pietro B. D’Amelio Pietro B. D’Amelio Manfred Gahr Andries ter Maat |
| author_sort | Nicolas M. Adreani |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Social animals flexibly use a variety of vocalizations to communicate in complex and dynamic environments. However, it remains unknown whether the auditory perception of different vocalizations changes according to the ecological context. By using miniature wireless devices to synchronously record vocal interactions and local neural activity in freely-behaving zebra finches in combination with playback experiments, we investigate whether the auditory processing of vocalizations changes across life-history stages. We show that during breeding, females (but not males) increase their estrogen levels and reply faster to their mates when interacting vocally. These changes are associated with an increase in the amplitude of the female’s neural auditory responses. Furthermore, the changes in auditory response are not general, but specific to a subset of functionally distinct vocalizations and dependent on the emitter’s identity. These results provide novel insights into auditory plasticity of communication systems, showing that the perception of specific signals can shift according to ecologically-determined physiological states. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-16T13:10:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7f427229334c43eabaf33da5f029ba63 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-453X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-16T13:10:18Z |
| publishDate | 2020-12-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-7f427229334c43eabaf33da5f029ba632022-12-21T22:30:37ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neuroscience1662-453X2020-12-011410.3389/fnins.2020.588672588672Life-Stage Dependent Plasticity in the Auditory System of a Songbird Is Signal and Emitter-SpecificNicolas M. Adreani0Nicolas M. Adreani1Pietro B. D’Amelio2Pietro B. D’Amelio3Manfred Gahr4Andries ter Maat5Department of Behavioural Neurobiology, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Pöcking, GermanyKonrad Lorenz Research Center, University of Vienna, Grünau im Almtal, AustriaDepartment of Behavioural Neurobiology, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Pöcking, GermanyFitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South AfricaDepartment of Behavioural Neurobiology, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Pöcking, GermanyDepartment of Behavioural Neurobiology, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Pöcking, GermanySocial animals flexibly use a variety of vocalizations to communicate in complex and dynamic environments. However, it remains unknown whether the auditory perception of different vocalizations changes according to the ecological context. By using miniature wireless devices to synchronously record vocal interactions and local neural activity in freely-behaving zebra finches in combination with playback experiments, we investigate whether the auditory processing of vocalizations changes across life-history stages. We show that during breeding, females (but not males) increase their estrogen levels and reply faster to their mates when interacting vocally. These changes are associated with an increase in the amplitude of the female’s neural auditory responses. Furthermore, the changes in auditory response are not general, but specific to a subset of functionally distinct vocalizations and dependent on the emitter’s identity. These results provide novel insights into auditory plasticity of communication systems, showing that the perception of specific signals can shift according to ecologically-determined physiological states.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2020.588672/fullauditory plasticitysecondary auditory areazebra finchindividual recognitioncaudomedial nidopalliumcontext dependent |
| spellingShingle | Nicolas M. Adreani Nicolas M. Adreani Pietro B. D’Amelio Pietro B. D’Amelio Manfred Gahr Andries ter Maat Life-Stage Dependent Plasticity in the Auditory System of a Songbird Is Signal and Emitter-Specific Frontiers in Neuroscience auditory plasticity secondary auditory area zebra finch individual recognition caudomedial nidopallium context dependent |
| title | Life-Stage Dependent Plasticity in the Auditory System of a Songbird Is Signal and Emitter-Specific |
| title_full | Life-Stage Dependent Plasticity in the Auditory System of a Songbird Is Signal and Emitter-Specific |
| title_fullStr | Life-Stage Dependent Plasticity in the Auditory System of a Songbird Is Signal and Emitter-Specific |
| title_full_unstemmed | Life-Stage Dependent Plasticity in the Auditory System of a Songbird Is Signal and Emitter-Specific |
| title_short | Life-Stage Dependent Plasticity in the Auditory System of a Songbird Is Signal and Emitter-Specific |
| title_sort | life stage dependent plasticity in the auditory system of a songbird is signal and emitter specific |
| topic | auditory plasticity secondary auditory area zebra finch individual recognition caudomedial nidopallium context dependent |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2020.588672/full |
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