Vocal experimentation in the juvenile songbird requires a basal ganglia circuit.
Songbirds learn their songs by trial-and-error experimentation, producing highly variable vocal output as juveniles. By comparing their own sounds to the song of a tutor, young songbirds gradually converge to a stable song that can be a remarkably good copy of the tutor song. Here we show that vocal...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2005-05-01
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| Series: | PLoS Biology |
| Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC1069649?pdf=render |
| _version_ | 1819149230236762112 |
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| author | Bence P Olveczky Aaron S Andalman Michale S Fee |
| author_facet | Bence P Olveczky Aaron S Andalman Michale S Fee |
| author_sort | Bence P Olveczky |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Songbirds learn their songs by trial-and-error experimentation, producing highly variable vocal output as juveniles. By comparing their own sounds to the song of a tutor, young songbirds gradually converge to a stable song that can be a remarkably good copy of the tutor song. Here we show that vocal variability in the learning songbird is induced by a basal-ganglia-related circuit, the output of which projects to the motor pathway via the lateral magnocellular nucleus of the nidopallium (LMAN). We found that pharmacological inactivation of LMAN dramatically reduced acoustic and sequence variability in the songs of juvenile zebra finches, doing so in a rapid and reversible manner. In addition, recordings from LMAN neurons projecting to the motor pathway revealed highly variable spiking activity across song renditions, showing that LMAN may act as a source of variability. Lastly, pharmacological blockade of synaptic inputs from LMAN to its target premotor area also reduced song variability. Our results establish that, in the juvenile songbird, the exploratory motor behavior required to learn a complex motor sequence is dependent on a dedicated neural circuit homologous to cortico-basal ganglia circuits in mammals. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T13:58:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f2171caddc5148d487bae872865d1b34 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1544-9173 1545-7885 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T13:58:18Z |
| publishDate | 2005-05-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS Biology |
| spelling | doaj.art-f2171caddc5148d487bae872865d1b342022-12-21T18:23:29ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Biology1544-91731545-78852005-05-0135e15310.1371/journal.pbio.0030153Vocal experimentation in the juvenile songbird requires a basal ganglia circuit.Bence P OlveczkyAaron S AndalmanMichale S FeeSongbirds learn their songs by trial-and-error experimentation, producing highly variable vocal output as juveniles. By comparing their own sounds to the song of a tutor, young songbirds gradually converge to a stable song that can be a remarkably good copy of the tutor song. Here we show that vocal variability in the learning songbird is induced by a basal-ganglia-related circuit, the output of which projects to the motor pathway via the lateral magnocellular nucleus of the nidopallium (LMAN). We found that pharmacological inactivation of LMAN dramatically reduced acoustic and sequence variability in the songs of juvenile zebra finches, doing so in a rapid and reversible manner. In addition, recordings from LMAN neurons projecting to the motor pathway revealed highly variable spiking activity across song renditions, showing that LMAN may act as a source of variability. Lastly, pharmacological blockade of synaptic inputs from LMAN to its target premotor area also reduced song variability. Our results establish that, in the juvenile songbird, the exploratory motor behavior required to learn a complex motor sequence is dependent on a dedicated neural circuit homologous to cortico-basal ganglia circuits in mammals.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC1069649?pdf=render |
| spellingShingle | Bence P Olveczky Aaron S Andalman Michale S Fee Vocal experimentation in the juvenile songbird requires a basal ganglia circuit. PLoS Biology |
| title | Vocal experimentation in the juvenile songbird requires a basal ganglia circuit. |
| title_full | Vocal experimentation in the juvenile songbird requires a basal ganglia circuit. |
| title_fullStr | Vocal experimentation in the juvenile songbird requires a basal ganglia circuit. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Vocal experimentation in the juvenile songbird requires a basal ganglia circuit. |
| title_short | Vocal experimentation in the juvenile songbird requires a basal ganglia circuit. |
| title_sort | vocal experimentation in the juvenile songbird requires a basal ganglia circuit |
| url | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC1069649?pdf=render |
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