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Manto M, Adamaszek M, Apps R, Carlson E, Guarque-Chabrera J, Heleven E, Kakei S, Khodakhah K, Kuo SH, Lin CYR, Joshua M, Miquel M, Mitoma H, Larry N, Péron JA, Pickford J, Schutter DJLG, Singh MK, Tan T, Tanaka H, Tsai P, Van Overwalle F, Yamashiro K. Consensus Paper: Cerebellum and Reward. CEREBELLUM (LONDON, ENGLAND) 2024:10.1007/s12311-024-01702-0. [PMID: 38769243 DOI: 10.1007/s12311-024-01702-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/06/2024] [Indexed: 05/22/2024]
Abstract
Cerebellum is a key-structure for the modulation of motor, cognitive, social and affective functions, contributing to automatic behaviours through interactions with the cerebral cortex, basal ganglia and spinal cord. The predictive mechanisms used by the cerebellum cover not only sensorimotor functions but also reward-related tasks. Cerebellar circuits appear to encode temporal difference error and reward prediction error. From a chemical standpoint, cerebellar catecholamines modulate the rate of cerebellar-based cognitive learning, and mediate cerebellar contributions during complex behaviours. Reward processing and its associated emotions are tuned by the cerebellum which operates as a controller of adaptive homeostatic processes based on interoceptive and exteroceptive inputs. Lobules VI-VII/areas of the vermis are candidate regions for the cortico-subcortical signaling pathways associated with loss aversion and reward sensitivity, together with other nodes of the limbic circuitry. There is growing evidence that the cerebellum works as a hub of regional dysconnectivity across all mood states and that mental disorders involve the cerebellar circuitry, including mood and addiction disorders, and impaired eating behaviors where the cerebellum might be involved in longer time scales of prediction as compared to motor operations. Cerebellar patients exhibit aberrant social behaviour, showing aberrant impulsivity/compulsivity. The cerebellum is a master-piece of reward mechanisms, together with the striatum, ventral tegmental area (VTA) and prefrontal cortex (PFC). Critically, studies on reward processing reinforce our view that a fundamental role of the cerebellum is to construct internal models, perform predictions on the impact of future behaviour and compare what is predicted and what actually occurs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mario Manto
- Service de Neurologie, Médiathèque Jean Jacquy, CHU-Charleroi, 6000, Charleroi, Belgium.
- Service Des Neurosciences, Université de Mons, 7000, Mons, Belgium.
- Unité Des Ataxies Cérébelleuses, CHU-Charleroi, Service Des Neurosciences, University of Mons, 7000, Mons, Belgium.
| | - Michael Adamaszek
- Department of Clinical and Cognitive Neurorehabilitation, Klinik Bavaria Kreischa, 01731, Kreischa, Germany
| | - Richard Apps
- School of Physiology, Pharmacology & Neuroscience, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TD, UK
| | - Erik Carlson
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98108, USA
- Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center, Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, WA, 98108, USA
| | - Julian Guarque-Chabrera
- Área de Psicobiología, Facultat de Ciències de La Salut, Universitat Jaume I, 12071, Castellón de La Plana, Spain
- Dominick Purpura Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, 10461, USA
| | - Elien Heleven
- Faculty of Psychology and Center for Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Shinji Kakei
- Department of Anatomy and Physiology, Jissen Women's University, Tokyo, 191-8510, Japan
| | - Kamran Khodakhah
- Dominick Purpura Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, 10461, USA
| | - Sheng-Han Kuo
- Department of Neurology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, 10032, USA
- Initiative of Columbia Ataxia and Tremor, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, 10032, USA
| | - Chi-Ying R Lin
- Alzheimer's Disease and Memory Disorders Center, Department of Neurology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, 77030 TX, USA
- Parkinson's Disease Center and Movement Disorders Clinic, Department of Neurology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, 77030 TX, USA
| | - Mati Joshua
- Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Marta Miquel
- Área de Psicobiología, Facultat de Ciències de La Salut, Universitat Jaume I, 12071, Castellón de La Plana, Spain
- Dominick Purpura Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, 10461, USA
| | - Hiroshi Mitoma
- Department of Medical Education, Tokyo Medical University, Tokyo, 160-8402, Japan
| | - Noga Larry
- Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Julie Anne Péron
- Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology Laboratory, Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, 1205, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Jasmine Pickford
- School of Physiology, Pharmacology & Neuroscience, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TD, UK
| | - Dennis J L G Schutter
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 1, 3584 CS, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Manpreet K Singh
- Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California Davis, 2230 Stockton Blvd, Sacramento, CA, 95817, USA
| | - Tommy Tan
- Department of Neurology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, 75235, USA
| | - Hirokazu Tanaka
- Faculty of Information Technology, Tokyo City University, Tokyo, 158-8557, Japan
| | - Peter Tsai
- Department of Neurology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, 75235, USA
- Departments of Neuroscience, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, 75235, USA
| | - Frank Van Overwalle
- Faculty of Psychology and Center for Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Kunihiko Yamashiro
- Department of Neurology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, 75235, USA
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Reiner A, Medina L, Abellan A, Deng Y, Toledo CA, Luksch H, Vega-Zuniga T, Riley NB, Hodos W, Karten HJ. Neurochemistry and circuit organization of the lateral spiriform nucleus of birds: A uniquely nonmammalian direct pathway component of the basal ganglia. J Comp Neurol 2024; 532:e25620. [PMID: 38733146 PMCID: PMC11090467 DOI: 10.1002/cne.25620] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2023] [Revised: 03/24/2024] [Accepted: 04/16/2024] [Indexed: 05/13/2024]
Abstract
We used diverse methods to characterize the role of avian lateral spiriform nucleus (SpL) in basal ganglia motor function. Connectivity analysis showed that SpL receives input from globus pallidus (GP), and the intrapeduncular nucleus (INP) located ventromedial to GP, whose neurons express numerous striatal markers. SpL-projecting GP neurons were large and aspiny, while SpL-projecting INP neurons were medium sized and spiny. Connectivity analysis further showed that SpL receives inputs from subthalamic nucleus (STN) and substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNr), and that the SNr also receives inputs from GP, INP, and STN. Neurochemical analysis showed that SpL neurons express ENK, GAD, and a variety of pallidal neuron markers, and receive GABAergic terminals, some of which also contain DARPP32, consistent with GP pallidal and INP striatal inputs. Connectivity and neurochemical analysis showed that the SpL input to tectum prominently ends on GABAA receptor-enriched tectobulbar neurons. Behavioral studies showed that lesions of SpL impair visuomotor behaviors involving tracking and pecking moving targets. Our results suggest that SpL modulates brainstem-projecting tectobulbar neurons in a manner comparable to the demonstrated influence of GP internus on motor thalamus and of SNr on tectobulbar neurons in mammals. Given published data in amphibians and reptiles, it seems likely the SpL circuit represents a major direct pathway-type circuit by which the basal ganglia exerts its motor influence in nonmammalian tetrapods. The present studies also show that avian striatum is divided into three spatially segregated territories with differing connectivity, a medial striato-nigral territory, a dorsolateral striato-GP territory, and the ventrolateral INP motor territory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anton Reiner
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN 38163
| | - Loreta Medina
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Universitat de Lleida, Lleida, Spain
- Laboratory of Evolutionary and Developmental Neurobiology, Lleida’s Institute for Biomedical Research-Dr. Pifarré Foundation (IRBLleida), Lleida, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Antonio Abellan
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Universitat de Lleida, Lleida, Spain
- Laboratory of Evolutionary and Developmental Neurobiology, Lleida’s Institute for Biomedical Research-Dr. Pifarré Foundation (IRBLleida), Lleida, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Yunping Deng
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN 38163
| | - Claudio A.B. Toledo
- Neuroscience Research Nucleus, Universidade Cidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo 65057-420, Brazil
| | - Harald Luksch
- School of Life Sciences, Technische Universität München, Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany
| | - Tomas Vega-Zuniga
- School of Life Sciences, Technische Universität München, Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany
- Institute of Science and Technology Austria, Klosterneuburg, Austria
| | - Nell B. Riley
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland College Park 20742-4411
| | - William Hodos
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland College Park 20742-4411
| | - Harvey J. Karten
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA 92093-0608
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3
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Nevue AA, Zemel BM, Friedrich SR, von Gersdorff H, Mello CV. Cell type specializations of the vocal-motor cortex in songbirds. Cell Rep 2023; 42:113344. [PMID: 37910500 PMCID: PMC10752865 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.113344] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2023] [Revised: 08/30/2023] [Accepted: 10/10/2023] [Indexed: 11/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Identifying molecular specializations in cortical circuitry supporting complex behaviors, like learned vocalizations, requires understanding of the neuroanatomical context from which these circuits arise. In songbirds, the robust arcopallial nucleus (RA) provides descending cortical projections for fine vocal-motor control. Using single-nuclei transcriptomics and spatial gene expression mapping in zebra finches, we have defined cell types and molecular specializations that distinguish RA from adjacent regions involved in non-vocal motor and sensory processing. We describe an RA-specific projection neuron, differential inhibitory subtypes, and glia specializations and have probed predicted GABAergic interneuron subtypes electrophysiologically within RA. Several cell-specific markers arise developmentally in a sex-dependent manner. Our interactive apps integrate cellular data with developmental and spatial distribution data from the gene expression brain atlas ZEBrA. Users can explore molecular specializations of vocal-motor neurons and support cells that likely reflect adaptations key to the physiology and evolution of vocal control circuits and refined motor skills.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander A Nevue
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA; Vollum Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Benjamin M Zemel
- Vollum Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Samantha R Friedrich
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | | | - Claudio V Mello
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA.
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Anderson KL, Colón L, Doolittle V, Rosario Martinez R, Uraga J, Whitney O. Context-dependent activation of a social behavior brain network during learned vocal production. Brain Struct Funct 2023; 228:1785-1797. [PMID: 37615758 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-023-02693-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2023] [Accepted: 08/01/2023] [Indexed: 08/25/2023]
Abstract
Neural activation in brain regions for vocal control is social context dependent. This context-dependent brain activation reflects social context-appropriate vocal behavior but has unresolved mechanisms. Studies of non-vocal social behaviors in multiple organisms suggest a functional role for several evolutionarily conserved and highly interconnected brain regions. Here, we use neural activity-dependent gene expression to evaluate the functional connectivity of this social behavior network within zebra finches in non-social and social singing contexts. We found that activity in one social behavior network region, the medial preoptic area (POM), was strongly associated with the amount of non-social undirected singing in zebra finches. In addition, in all regions of the social behavior network and the paraventricular nucleus (PVN), a higher percentage of EGR1 expression was observed during a social female-directed singing context compared to a non-social undirected singing context. Furthermore, we observed distinct patterns of significantly correlated activity between regions of the social behavior network during non-social undirected and social female-directed singing. Our results suggest that non-social vs. social contexts differentially activate this social behavior network and PVN. Moreover, neuronal activity within this social behavior network, PVN, and POM may alter context-appropriate vocal production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine L Anderson
- Biology Department, City College, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
- Graduate Center, Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology Program, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
| | - Lionel Colón
- Biology Department, City College, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
| | - Violet Doolittle
- Biology Department, City College, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
| | | | - Joseph Uraga
- Biology Department, City College, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
| | - Osceola Whitney
- Biology Department, City College, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA.
- Graduate Center, Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology Program, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA.
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Ben-Tov M, Duarte F, Mooney R. A neural hub for holistic courtship displays. Curr Biol 2023; 33:1640-1653.e5. [PMID: 36944337 PMCID: PMC10249437 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.02.072] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2022] [Revised: 12/16/2022] [Accepted: 02/23/2023] [Indexed: 03/23/2023]
Abstract
Courtship displays often involve the concerted production of several distinct courtship behaviors. The neural circuits that enable the concerted production of the component behaviors of a courtship display are not well understood. Here, we identify a midbrain cell group (A11) that enables male zebra finches to produce their learned songs in concert with various other behaviors, including female-directed orientation, pursuit, and calling. Anatomical mapping reveals that A11 is at the center of a complex network including the song premotor nucleus HVC as well as brainstem regions crucial to calling and locomotion. Notably, lesioning A11 terminals in HVC blocked female-directed singing but did not interfere with female-directed calling, orientation, or pursuit. In contrast, lesioning A11 cell bodies strongly reduced and often abolished all female-directed courtship behaviors. However, males with either type of lesion still produced songs when in social isolation. Lastly, imaging calcium-related activity in A11 terminals in HVC showed that during courtship, A11 signals HVC about female-directed calls and during female-directed singing, about the transition from simpler introductory notes to the acoustically more complex syllables that depend intimately on HVC for their production. These results show how a brain region important to reproduction in both birds and mammals enables holistic courtship displays in male zebra finches, which include learning songs, calls, and other non-vocal behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mor Ben-Tov
- Department of Neurobiology, Duke University, 311 Research Drive, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
| | - Fabiola Duarte
- Department of Neurobiology, Duke University, 311 Research Drive, Durham, NC 27710, USA
| | - Richard Mooney
- Department of Neurobiology, Duke University, 311 Research Drive, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
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6
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Anderson KL, Colón L, Doolittle V, Martinez RR, Uraga J, Whitney O. Context-dependent activation of a social behavior brain network associates with learned vocal production. RESEARCH SQUARE 2023:rs.3.rs-2587773. [PMID: 36824963 PMCID: PMC9949236 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-2587773/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/19/2023]
Abstract
In zebra finches, an avian brain network for vocal control undergoes context-dependent patterning of song-dependent activation. Previous studies in zebra finches also implicate the importance of dopaminergic input in producing context-appropriate singing behavior. In mice, it has been shown that oxytocinergic neurons originated in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN) synapse directly onto dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), implicating the necessity of oxytocin signaling from the PVN for producing a context-appropriate song. Both avian and non-avian axonal tract-tracing studies indicate high levels of PVN innervation by the social behavior network. Here, we hypothesize that the motivation for PVN oxytocin neurons to trigger dopamine release originates in the social behavior network, a highly conserved and interconnected collection of six regions implicated in various social and homeostatic behaviors. We found that expression of the neuronal activity marker EGR1 was not strongly correlated with song production in any of the regions of the social behavior network. However, when EGR1 expression levels were normalized to the singing rate, we found significantly higher levels of expression in the social behavior network regions except the medial preoptic area during a social female-directed singing context compared to a non-social undirected singing context. Our results suggest neuronal activity within the male zebra finch social behavior network influences the synaptic release of oxytocin from PVN onto dopaminergic projection neurons in the VTA, which in turn signals to the vocal control network to allow for context-appropriate song production.
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Loning H, Verkade L, Griffith SC, Naguib M. The social role of song in wild zebra finches. Curr Biol 2023; 33:372-380.e3. [PMID: 36543166 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.11.047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2022] [Revised: 09/23/2022] [Accepted: 11/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Male songbirds sing to establish territories and to attract mates.1,2 However, increasing reports of singing in non-reproductive contexts3 and by females4,5 show that song use is more diverse than previously considered. Therefore, alternative functions of song, such as social cohesion3 and synchronization of breeding, by and large, were overlooked even in such well-studied species such as the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata). In these social songbirds, only the males sing, and pairs breed synchronously in loose colonies,6,7 following aseasonal rain events in their arid habitat.8,9 As males are not territorial, and pairs form long-term monogamous bonds early in life, conventional theory predicts that zebra finches should not sing much at all; however, they do and their song is the focus of hundreds of lab-based studies.10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22 We hypothesize that zebra finch song functions to maintain social cohesion and to synchronize breeding. Here, we test this idea using data from 5 years of field studies, including observational transects, focal and year-round audio recordings, and a large-scale playback experiment. We show that zebra finches frequently sing while in groups, that breeding status influences song output at the nest and at aggregations, that they sing year round, and that they predominantly sing when with their partner, suggesting that the song remains important after pair formation. Our playback reveals that song actively features in social aggregations as it attracts conspecifics. Together, these results demonstrate that birdsong has important functions beyond territoriality and mate choice, illustrating its importance in coordination and cohesion of social units within larger societies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hugo Loning
- Behavioural Ecology Group, Department of Animal Sciences, Wageningen University & Research, De Elst 1, 6708 WD Wageningen, the Netherlands.
| | - Laura Verkade
- Behavioural Ecology Group, Department of Animal Sciences, Wageningen University & Research, De Elst 1, 6708 WD Wageningen, the Netherlands
| | - Simon C Griffith
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, 205A Culloden Road Marsfield, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia; School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Marc Naguib
- Behavioural Ecology Group, Department of Animal Sciences, Wageningen University & Research, De Elst 1, 6708 WD Wageningen, the Netherlands
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Gill KE, McGarrigle WJ, Neel AI, Tonto DOW, Greenleaf KL. D2 receptor antagonism enhances cocaine-induced behavioral sensitization in female, but not male Japanese quail ( Coturnix japonica ). Behav Pharmacol 2022; 33:355-363. [PMID: 35695537 DOI: 10.1097/fbp.0000000000000686] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Sex differences in cocaine-induced behaviors are well established. In rodents, females show enhanced locomotion to cocaine over multiple trials compared with males, a behavioral response known as sensitization. Estradiol enhances cocaine-induced sensitization in female rats by agonizing dopaminergic activity within the brain. In female quail, cocaine does not increase locomotion regardless of increased estradiol. A higher D2:D1 dopamine receptor ratio in quail compared with rodents may explain this sex and species difference. The goal of the present work was to investigate the role of D2 receptors in cocaine-induced locomotion and sensitization in Japanese quail and to determine whether a greater D2 receptor availability contributed to the lack of cocaine-induced sensitization in female quail found in previous studies. Male and female quail were administered 0, 0.03, 0.05, or 0.07 mg/kg of eticlopride (Eti) followed by 10 mg/kg of cocaine or saline then immediately placed in open-field chambers. Distance traveled was recorded for 30 min daily for 7 days. In female quail, cocaine-induced sensitization was observed with 0.03 or 0.05 mg/kg Eti, but not in cocaine-only females. In male quail, cocaine-induced sensitization was observed similar to previous research. However, Eti did not enhance cocaine-induced locomotion or produce sensitization in male quail. The D2 receptor likely mediates cocaine's motor stimulating effects in quail. In females, this effect is more pronounced. Since high D2 availability is protective against stimulant abuse, Japanese quail may be a useful model for investigating the role of the D2 receptor in cocaine addiction, but further research is needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karin E Gill
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Centre College, Danville, Kentucky
| | - William J McGarrigle
- Department of Psychology, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Anna Isabella Neel
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Centre College, Danville, Kentucky
| | - Derrick O W Tonto
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Centre College, Danville, Kentucky
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Mitra S, Basu S, Singh O, Srivastava A, Singru PS. Calcium-binding proteins typify the dopaminergic neuronal subtypes in the ventral tegmental area of zebra finch, Taeniopygia guttata. J Comp Neurol 2022; 530:2562-2586. [PMID: 35715989 DOI: 10.1002/cne.25352] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2021] [Revised: 05/09/2022] [Accepted: 05/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Calcium-binding proteins (CBPs) regulate neuronal function in midbrain dopamine (DA)-ergic neurons in mammals by buffering and sensing the intracellular Ca2+ , and vesicular release. In birds, the equivalent set of neurons are important in song learning, directed singing, courtship, and energy balance, yet the status of CBPs in these neurons is unknown. Herein, for the first time, we probe the nature of CBPs, namely, Calbindin-, Calretinin-, Parvalbumin-, and Secretagogin-expressing DA neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and substantia nigra (SN) in the midbrain of zebra finch, Taeniopygia guttata. qRT-PCR analysis of ventral midbrain tissue fragment revealed higher Calbindin- and Calretinin-mRNA levels compared to Parvalbumin and Secretagogin. Application of immunofluorescence showed CBP-immunoreactive (-i) neurons in VTA (anterior [VTAa], mid [VTAm], caudal [VTAc]), SN (compacta [SNc], and reticulata [SNr]). Compared to VTAa, higher Calbindin- and Parvalbumin-immunoreactivity (-ir), and lower Calretinin-ir were observed in VTAm and VTAc. Secretagogin-ir was highly localized to VTAa. In SN, Calbindin- and Calretinin-ir were higher in SNc, SNr was Parvalbumin enriched, and Secretagogin-ir was not detected. Weak, moderate, and intense tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-i VTA neurons were demarcated as subtypes 1, 2, and 3, respectively. While subtype 1 TH-i neurons were neither Calbindin- nor Calretinin-i, ∼80 and ∼65% subtype 2 and ∼30 and ∼45% subtype 3 TH-i neurons co-expressed Calbindin and Calretinin, respectively. All TH-i neuronal subtypes co-expressed Parvalbumin with reciprocal relationship with TH-ir. We suggest that the CBPs may determine VTA DA neuronal heterogeneity and differentially regulate their activity in T. guttata.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saptarsi Mitra
- School of Biological Sciences, National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Bhubaneswar, India.,Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI), Mumbai, India
| | - Sumela Basu
- School of Biological Sciences, National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Bhubaneswar, India.,Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI), Mumbai, India
| | - Omprakash Singh
- School of Biological Sciences, National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Bhubaneswar, India.,Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI), Mumbai, India
| | - Abhinav Srivastava
- School of Biological Sciences, National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Bhubaneswar, India.,Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI), Mumbai, India
| | - Praful S Singru
- School of Biological Sciences, National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Bhubaneswar, India.,Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI), Mumbai, India
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10
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Pichová K, Kubíková Ľ, Košťál Ľ. The Acute Pharmacological Manipulation of Dopamine Receptors Modulates Judgment Bias in Japanese Quail. Front Physiol 2022; 13:883021. [PMID: 35634149 PMCID: PMC9130459 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2022.883021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2022] [Accepted: 04/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
We have studied the effects of dopamine antagonists and agonists on Japanese quail behavior in the spatial judgment task. Twenty-four Japanese quail hens were trained in the spatial discrimination task to approach the feeder placed in the rewarded location (Go response, feeder containing mealworms) and to not approach the punished location (No-Go response, empty feeder plus aversive sound). In a subsequent spatial judgment task, the proportion of Go responses as well as approach latencies to rewarded, punished, and three ambiguous locations (near-positive, middle, near-negative, all neither rewarded nor punished) were assessed in 20 quail hens that successfully mastered the discrimination task. In Experiment 1, each bird received five treatments (0.1 and 1.0 mg/kg of dopamine D1 receptor antagonist SCH 23390, 0.05 and 0.5 mg/kg of dopamine D2 receptor antagonist haloperidol, and saline control) in a different order, according to a Latin square design. All drugs were administered intramuscularly 15 min before the spatial judgment test, with 2 days break between the treatments. Both antagonists caused a significant dose-dependent increase in the approach latencies as well as a decrease in the proportion of Go responses. In Experiment 2, with the design analogous to Experiment 1, the hens received again five treatments (1.0 and 10.0 mg/kg of dopamine D1 receptor agonist SKF 38393, 1.0 and 10.0 mg/kg of dopamine D2 receptor agonist bromocriptine, and saline control), applied intramuscularly 2 h before the test. The agonists did not have any significant effect on approach latencies and the proportion of Go responses in the spatial judgment task, as compared to the saline control, except for 10.0 mg/kg SKF 38393, which caused a decrease in the proportion of Go responses. The approach latency and the proportion of Go responses were affected by the cue location in both experiments. Our data suggest that the dopamine D1 and D2 receptor blockade leads to a decrease in the reward expectation and the negative judgment of stimuli. The effect of dopamine receptor activation is less clear. The results reveal that dopamine receptor manipulation alters the evaluation of the reward and punishment in the spatial judgment task.
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11
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Kim Y, Kojima S. Contribution of Endocannabinoids to Intrinsic Motivation for Undirected Singing in Adult Zebra Finches. Front Physiol 2022; 13:882176. [PMID: 35492606 PMCID: PMC9039130 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2022.882176] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2022] [Accepted: 03/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Songbirds, such as zebra finches, spontaneously produce many song renditions for vocal practice even in the absence of apparent recipients throughout their lives. Such “undirected singing” is driven by intrinsic motivation, which arises within individuals for internal satisfaction without immediate external rewards. Intrinsic motivation for undirected singing in adult zebra finches was previously demonstrated to be critically regulated by dopamine through D2 receptors. Here, we further investigate the mechanisms of intrinsic motivation for undirected singing by focusing on endocannabinoids, which modulate dopamine signaling and contribute to motivation and reward in mammals. In songbirds, endocannabinoids have been shown to be involved in the production of undirected songs, but whether they are involved in the intrinsic motivation for undirected singing remains unknown. Using latencies of the first song production following temporary singing suppression as a measure of intrinsic motivation for undirected singing, we demonstrate that systemic administration of the direct cannabinoid agonist WIN55212-2 decreases intrinsic motivation for singing and that those effects are largely reversed by the cannabinoid antagonist SR141716A co-administered with WIN55212-2. Administration of SR141716A alone or that of two indirect cannabinoid agonists did not significantly affect intrinsic singing motivation. These results suggest that endocannabinoids are critically involved in regulating intrinsic motivation for undirected singing and provide new insights into the neural mechanisms of intrinsically motivated motor behaviors.
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12
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Asogwa NC, Toji N, He Z, Shao C, Shibata Y, Tatsumoto S, Ishikawa H, Go Y, Wada K. Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in a songbird brain. J Comp Neurol 2022; 530:1966-1991. [PMID: 35344610 DOI: 10.1002/cne.25314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2021] [Revised: 02/21/2022] [Accepted: 02/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are ligand-gated ion channels that mediate fast synaptic transmission and cell signaling, which contribute to learning, memory, and the execution of motor skills. Birdsong is a complex learned motor skill in songbirds. Although the existence of 15 nAChR subunits has been predicted in the avian genome, their expression patterns and potential contributions to song learning and production have not been comprehensively investigated. Here, we cloned all the 15 nAChR subunits (ChrnA1-10, B2-4, D, and G) from the zebra finch brain and investigated the mRNA expression patterns in the neural pathways responsible for the learning and production of birdsong during a critical period of song learning. Although there were no detectable hybridization signals for ChrnA1, A6, A9, and A10, the other 11 nAChR subunits were uniquely expressed in one or more major subdivisions in the song nuclei of the songbird brain. Of these 11 subunits, ChrnA3-5, A7, and B2 were differentially regulated in the song nuclei compared with the surrounding anatomically related regions. ChrnA5 was upregulated during the critical period of song learning in the lateral magnocellular nucleus of the anterior nidopallium. Furthermore, single-cell RNA sequencing revealed ChrnA7 and B2 to be the major subunits expressed in neurons of the vocal motor nuclei HVC and robust nucleus of the arcopallium, indicating the potential existence of ChrnA7-homomeric and ChrnB2-heteromeric nAChRs in limited cell populations. These results suggest that relatively limited types of nAChR subunits provide functional contributions to song learning and production in songbirds.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Noriyuki Toji
- Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
| | - Ziwei He
- Graduate School of Life Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
| | - Chengru Shao
- Graduate School of Life Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
| | - Yukino Shibata
- Graduate School of Life Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
| | - Shoji Tatsumoto
- Cognitive Genomics Research Group, Exploratory Research Center on Life and Living Systems, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Okazaki, Japan
| | - Hiroe Ishikawa
- Cognitive Genomics Research Group, Exploratory Research Center on Life and Living Systems, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Okazaki, Japan
| | - Yasuhiro Go
- Cognitive Genomics Research Group, Exploratory Research Center on Life and Living Systems, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Okazaki, Japan
- School of Life Science, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Okazaki, Japan
- Department of Physiological Sciences, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Okazaki, Japan
| | - Kazuhiro Wada
- Graduate School of Life Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
- Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
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13
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Neural correlates of vocal initiation in the VTA/SNc of juvenile male zebra finches. Sci Rep 2021; 11:22388. [PMID: 34789831 PMCID: PMC8599707 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-01955-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2021] [Accepted: 11/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Initiation and execution of complex learned vocalizations such as human speech and birdsong depend on multiple brain circuits. In songbirds, neurons in the motor cortices and basal ganglia circuitry exhibit preparatory activity before initiation of song, and that activity is thought to play an important role in successful song performance. However, it remains unknown where a start signal for song is represented in the brain and how such a signal would lead to appropriate vocal initiation. To test whether neurons in the midbrain ventral tegmental area (VTA) and substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) show activity related to song initiation, we carried out extracellular recordings of VTA/SNc single units in singing juvenile male zebra finches. We found that a subset of VTA/SNc units exhibit phasic activity precisely time-locked to the onset of the song bout, and that the activity occurred specifically at the beginning of song. These findings suggest that phasic activity in the VTA/SNc represents a start signal that triggers song vocalization.
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14
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Barr HJ, Wall EM, Woolley SC. Dopamine in the songbird auditory cortex shapes auditory preference. Curr Biol 2021; 31:4547-4559.e5. [PMID: 34450091 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.08.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2019] [Revised: 06/22/2021] [Accepted: 08/02/2021] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Vocal communication signals can provide listeners with information about the signaler and elicit motivated responses. Auditory cortical and mesolimbic reward circuits are often considered to have distinct roles in these processes, with auditory cortical circuits responsible for detecting and discriminating sounds and mesolimbic circuits responsible for ascribing salience and modulating preference for those sounds. Here, we investigated whether dopamine within auditory cortical circuits themselves can shape the incentive salience of a vocal signal. Female zebra finches demonstrate natural preferences for vocal signals produced by males ("songs"), and we found that brief pairing of passive song playback with pharmacological dopamine manipulations in the secondary auditory cortex significantly altered song preferences. In particular, pairing passive song playback with retrodialysis of dopamine agonists into the auditory cortex enhanced preferences for less-preferred songs. Plasticity of song preferences by dopamine persisted for at least 1 week and was mediated by D1 receptors. In contrast, song preferences were not shaped by norepinephrine. In line with this, while we found that the ventral tegmental area, substantia nigra pars compacta, and locus coeruleus all project to the secondary auditory cortex, only dopamine-producing neurons in the ventral tegmental area differentially responded to preferred versus less-preferred songs. In contrast, norepinephrine neurons in the locus coeruleus increased expression of activity-dependent neural markers for both preferred and less-preferred songs. These data suggest that dopamine acting directly in sensory-processing areas can shape the incentive salience of communication signals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helena J Barr
- Integrated Program in Neuroscience, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada; Center for Research on Brain, Language, and Music, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Erin M Wall
- Integrated Program in Neuroscience, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada; Center for Research on Brain, Language, and Music, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Sarah C Woolley
- Integrated Program in Neuroscience, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada; Center for Research on Brain, Language, and Music, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada; Department of Biology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
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15
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Kim Y, Kwon S, Rajan R, Mori C, Kojima S. Intrinsic motivation for singing in songbirds is enhanced by temporary singing suppression and regulated by dopamine. Sci Rep 2021; 11:20350. [PMID: 34645903 PMCID: PMC8514548 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-99456-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2020] [Accepted: 09/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Behaviors driven by intrinsic motivation are critical for development and optimization of physical and brain functions, but their underlying mechanisms are not well studied due to the complexity and autonomy of the behavior. Songbirds, such as zebra finches, offer a unique opportunity to study neural substrates of intrinsic motivation because they spontaneously produce many renditions of songs with highly-quantifiable structure for vocal practice, even in the absence of apparent recipients (“undirected singing”). Neural substrates underlying intrinsic motivation for undirected singing are still poorly understood partly because singing motivation cannot be easily manipulated due to its autonomy. Also, undirected singing itself acts as an internal reward, which could increase singing motivation, leading to difficulty in measuring singing motivation independent of singing-associated reward. Here, we report a simple procedure to easily manipulate and quantify intrinsic motivation for undirected singing independent of singing-associated reward. We demonstrate that intrinsic motivation for undirected singing is dramatically enhanced by temporary suppression of singing behavior and the degree of enhancement depends on the duration of suppression. Moreover, by examining latencies to the first song following singing suppression as a measure of singing motivation independent of singing-associated reward, we demonstrate that intrinsic singing motivation is critically regulated by dopamine through D2 receptors. These results provide a simple experimental tool to manipulate and measure the intrinsic motivation for undirected singing and illustrate the importance of zebra finches as a model system to study the neural basis of intrinsically-motivated behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yunbok Kim
- Sensory and Motor Systems Research Group, Korea Brain Research Institute, 61, Cheomdan-ro, Dong-gu, Daegu, 41068, South Korea
| | - Sojeong Kwon
- Sensory and Motor Systems Research Group, Korea Brain Research Institute, 61, Cheomdan-ro, Dong-gu, Daegu, 41068, South Korea
| | - Raghav Rajan
- Division of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune, Pune, Maharashtra, India
| | - Chihiro Mori
- Department of Molecular Biology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Teikyo University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Satoshi Kojima
- Sensory and Motor Systems Research Group, Korea Brain Research Institute, 61, Cheomdan-ro, Dong-gu, Daegu, 41068, South Korea.
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16
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Aronowitz JV, Kirn JR, Pytte CL, Aaron GB. DARPP-32 distinguishes a subset of adult-born neurons in zebra finch HVC. J Comp Neurol 2021; 530:792-803. [PMID: 34545948 DOI: 10.1002/cne.25245] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2021] [Revised: 09/03/2021] [Accepted: 09/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
Adult male zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) continually incorporate adult-born neurons into HVC, a telencephalic brain region necessary for the production of learned song. These neurons express activity-dependent immediate early genes (e.g., zenk and c-fos) following song production, suggesting that these neurons are active during song production. Half of these adult-born HVC neurons (HVC NNs) can be backfilled from the robust nucleus of the arcopallium (RA) and are a part of the vocal motor pathway underlying learned song production, but the other half do not backfill from RA, and they remain to be characterized. Here, we used cell birth-dating, retrograde tract tracing, and immunofluorescence to demonstrate that half of all HVC NNs express the phosphoprotein DARPP-32, a protein associated with dopamine receptor expression. We also demonstrate that DARPP-32+ HVC NNs are contacted by tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactive fibers, suggesting that they receive catecholaminergic input, have transiently larger nuclei than DARPP-32-neg HVC NNs, and do not backfill from RA. Taken together, these findings help characterize a group of HVC NNs that have no apparent projections to RA and so far have eluded positive identification other than HVC NN status.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jake V Aronowitz
- Department of Biology, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, USA
| | - John R Kirn
- Department of Biology, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, USA.,Program in Neuroscience and Behavior, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, USA
| | - Carolyn L Pytte
- Department of Psychology, Queens College and The Graduate Center, City University of New York, Flushing, New York, USA
| | - Gloster B Aaron
- Department of Biology, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, USA.,Program in Neuroscience and Behavior, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, USA
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17
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Macedo-Lima M, Remage-Healey L. Dopamine Modulation of Motor and Sensory Cortical Plasticity among Vertebrates. Integr Comp Biol 2021; 61:316-336. [PMID: 33822047 PMCID: PMC8600016 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icab019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Goal-directed learning is a key contributor to evolutionary fitness in animals. The neural mechanisms that mediate learning often involve the neuromodulator dopamine. In higher order cortical regions, most of what is known about dopamine's role is derived from brain regions involved in motivation and decision-making, while significantly less is known about dopamine's potential role in motor and/or sensory brain regions to guide performance. Research on rodents and primates represents over 95% of publications in the field, while little beyond basic anatomy is known in other vertebrate groups. This significantly limits our general understanding of how dopamine signaling systems have evolved as organisms adapt to their environments. This review takes a pan-vertebrate view of the literature on the role of dopamine in motor/sensory cortical regions, highlighting, when available, research on non-mammalian vertebrates. We provide a broad perspective on dopamine function and emphasize that dopamine-induced plasticity mechanisms are widespread across all cortical systems and associated with motor and sensory adaptations. The available evidence illustrates that there is a strong anatomical basis-dopamine fibers and receptor distributions-to hypothesize that pallial dopamine effects are widespread among vertebrates. Continued research progress in non-mammalian species will be crucial to further our understanding of how the dopamine system evolved to shape the diverse array of brain structures and behaviors among the vertebrate lineage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matheus Macedo-Lima
- Neuroscience and Behavior Program, Center for Neuroendocrine Studies, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
- CAPES Foundation, Ministry of Education of Brazil, 70040-031 Brasília, Brazil
| | - Luke Remage-Healey
- Neuroscience and Behavior Program, Center for Neuroendocrine Studies, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
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18
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Macedo-Lima M, Boyd HM, Remage-Healey L. Dopamine D1 Receptor Activation Drives Plasticity in the Songbird Auditory Pallium. J Neurosci 2021; 41:6050-6069. [PMID: 34083251 PMCID: PMC8276744 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2823-20.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2020] [Revised: 03/09/2021] [Accepted: 04/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Vocal learning species must form and extensively hone associations between sounds and social contingencies. In songbirds, dopamine signaling guides song motor production, variability, and motivation, but it is unclear how dopamine regulates fundamental auditory associations for learning new sounds. We hypothesized that dopamine regulates learning in the auditory pallium, in part by interacting with local neuroestradiol signaling. Here, we show that zebra finch auditory neurons frequently coexpress D1 receptor (D1R) protein, neuroestradiol-synthase, GABA, and parvalbumin (PV). Auditory classical conditioning increased neuroplasticity gene induction in D1R-positive neurons. In vitro, D1R pharmacological activation reduced the amplitude of GABAergic and glutamatergic currents and increased the latter's frequency. In vivo, D1R activation reduced the firing of putative interneurons, increased the firing of putative excitatory neurons, and made both neuronal types unable to adapt to novel stimuli. Together, these findings support the hypothesis that dopamine acting via D1Rs modulates auditory association in the songbird sensory pallium.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Our key finding is that auditory forebrain D1 receptors (D1Rs) modulate auditory plasticity, in support of the hypothesis that dopamine modulates the formation of associations between sounds and outcomes. Recent work in songbirds has identified roles for dopamine in driving reinforcement learning and motor variability in song production. This leaves open whether dopamine shapes the initial events that are critical for learning vocalizations, e.g., auditory learning. Our study begins to address this question in the songbird caudomedial nidopallium (NCM), an analog of the mammalian secondary auditory cortex. Our findings indicate that dopamine receptors are important modulators of excitatory/inhibitory balance and sound association learning mechanisms in the NCM, a system that could be a fundamental feature of vertebrate ascending auditory pathways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matheus Macedo-Lima
- Neuroscience and Behavior Program
- Center for Neuroendocrine Studies, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003
- CAPES Foundation, Ministry of Education of Brazil, Brasília, DF 70040-020, Brazil
| | - Hannah M Boyd
- Center for Neuroendocrine Studies, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003
| | - Luke Remage-Healey
- Neuroscience and Behavior Program
- Center for Neuroendocrine Studies, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003
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19
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Paraouty N, Rizzuto CR, Sanes DH. Dopaminergic signaling supports auditory social learning. Sci Rep 2021; 11:13117. [PMID: 34162951 PMCID: PMC8222360 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-92524-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2020] [Accepted: 06/08/2021] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Explicit rewards are commonly used to reinforce a behavior, a form of learning that engages the dopaminergic neuromodulatory system. In contrast, skill acquisition can display dramatic improvements from a social learning experience, even though the observer receives no explicit reward. Here, we test whether a dopaminergic signal contributes to social learning in naïve gerbils that are exposed to, and learn from, a skilled demonstrator performing an auditory discrimination task. Following five exposure sessions, naïve observer gerbils were allowed to practice the auditory task and their performance was assessed across days. We first tested the effect of an explicit food reward in the observer's compartment that was yoked to the demonstrator's performance during exposure sessions. Naïve observer gerbils with the yoked reward learned the discrimination task significantly faster, as compared to unrewarded observers. The effect of this explicit reward was abolished by administration of a D1/D5 dopamine receptor antagonist during the exposure sessions. Similarly, the D1/D5 antagonist reduced the rate of learning in unrewarded observers. To test whether a dopaminergic signal was sufficient to enhance social learning, we administered a D1/D5 receptor agonist during the exposure sessions in which no reward was present and found that the rate of learning occurred significantly faster. Finally, a quantitative analysis of vocalizations during the exposure sessions suggests one behavioral strategy that contributes to social learning. Together, these results are consistent with a dopamine-dependent reward signal during social learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nihaad Paraouty
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, NY, 10003, USA.
| | - Catherine R Rizzuto
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, NY, 10003, USA
| | - Dan H Sanes
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, NY, 10003, USA.,Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA.,Department of Biology, New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA.,Neuroscience Institute, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA
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20
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Xiao L, Merullo DP, Koch TMI, Cao M, Co M, Kulkarni A, Konopka G, Roberts TF. Expression of FoxP2 in the basal ganglia regulates vocal motor sequences in the adult songbird. Nat Commun 2021; 12:2617. [PMID: 33976169 PMCID: PMC8113549 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22918-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2020] [Accepted: 04/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Disruption of the transcription factor FoxP2, which is enriched in the basal ganglia, impairs vocal development in humans and songbirds. The basal ganglia are important for the selection and sequencing of motor actions, but the circuit mechanisms governing accurate sequencing of learned vocalizations are unknown. Here, we show that expression of FoxP2 in the basal ganglia is vital for the fluent initiation and termination of birdsong, as well as the maintenance of song syllable sequencing in adulthood. Knockdown of FoxP2 imbalances dopamine receptor expression across striatal direct-like and indirect-like pathways, suggesting a role of dopaminergic signaling in regulating vocal motor sequencing. Confirming this prediction, we show that phasic dopamine activation, and not inhibition, during singing drives repetition of song syllables, thus also impairing fluent initiation and termination of birdsong. These findings demonstrate discrete circuit origins for the dysfluent repetition of vocal elements in songbirds, with implications for speech disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lei Xiao
- Department of Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Devin P Merullo
- Department of Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Therese M I Koch
- Department of Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Mou Cao
- Department of Pediatrics, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Marissa Co
- Department of Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | | | - Genevieve Konopka
- Department of Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Todd F Roberts
- Department of Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.
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21
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Gedman G, Haase B, Durieux G, Biegler MT, Fedrigo O, Jarvis ED. As above, so below: Whole transcriptome profiling demonstrates strong molecular similarities between avian dorsal and ventral pallial subdivisions. J Comp Neurol 2021; 529:3222-3246. [PMID: 33871048 PMCID: PMC8251894 DOI: 10.1002/cne.25159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2020] [Revised: 03/16/2021] [Accepted: 03/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Over the last two decades, beginning with the Avian Brain Nomenclature Forum in 2000, major revisions have been made to our understanding of the organization and nomenclature of the avian brain. However, there are still unresolved questions on avian pallial organization, particularly whether the cells above the vestigial ventricle represent distinct populations to those below it or similar populations. To test these two hypotheses, we profiled the transcriptomes of the major avian pallial subdivisions dorsal and ventral to the vestigial ventricle boundary using RNA sequencing and a new zebra finch genome assembly containing about 22,000 annotated, complete genes. We found that the transcriptomes of neural populations above and below the ventricle were remarkably similar. Each subdivision in dorsal pallium (Wulst) had a corresponding molecular counterpart in the ventral pallium (dorsal ventricular ridge). In turn, each corresponding subdivision exhibited shared gene co‐expression modules that contained gene sets enriched in functional specializations, such as anatomical structure development, synaptic transmission, signaling, and neurogenesis. These findings are more in line with the continuum hypothesis of avian brain subdivision organization above and below the vestigial ventricle space, with the pallium as a whole consisting of four major cell populations (intercalated pallium, mesopallium, hyper‐nidopallium, and arcopallium) instead of seven (hyperpallium apicale, interstitial hyperpallium apicale, intercalated hyperpallium, hyperpallium densocellare, mesopallium, nidopallium, and arcopallium). We suggest adopting a more streamlined hierarchical naming system that reflects the robust similarities in gene expression, neural connectivity motifs, and function. These findings have important implications for our understanding of overall vertebrate brain evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregory Gedman
- Laboratory of the Neurogenetics of Language, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York, USA
| | - Bettina Haase
- Laboratory of the Neurogenetics of Language, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York, USA.,Vertebrate Genome Laboratory, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York, USA
| | - Gillian Durieux
- Behavioural Genomics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Plön, Germany
| | - Matthew T Biegler
- Laboratory of the Neurogenetics of Language, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York, USA
| | - Olivier Fedrigo
- Laboratory of the Neurogenetics of Language, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York, USA.,Vertebrate Genome Laboratory, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York, USA
| | - Erich D Jarvis
- Laboratory of the Neurogenetics of Language, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York, USA.,Vertebrate Genome Laboratory, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York, USA.,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, Maryland, USA
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22
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Rhie A, McCarthy SA, Fedrigo O, Damas J, Formenti G, Koren S, Uliano-Silva M, Chow W, Fungtammasan A, Kim J, Lee C, Ko BJ, Chaisson M, Gedman GL, Cantin LJ, Thibaud-Nissen F, Haggerty L, Bista I, Smith M, Haase B, Mountcastle J, Winkler S, Paez S, Howard J, Vernes SC, Lama TM, Grutzner F, Warren WC, Balakrishnan CN, Burt D, George JM, Biegler MT, Iorns D, Digby A, Eason D, Robertson B, Edwards T, Wilkinson M, Turner G, Meyer A, Kautt AF, Franchini P, Detrich HW, Svardal H, Wagner M, Naylor GJP, Pippel M, Malinsky M, Mooney M, Simbirsky M, Hannigan BT, Pesout T, Houck M, Misuraca A, Kingan SB, Hall R, Kronenberg Z, Sović I, Dunn C, Ning Z, Hastie A, Lee J, Selvaraj S, Green RE, Putnam NH, Gut I, Ghurye J, Garrison E, Sims Y, Collins J, Pelan S, Torrance J, Tracey A, Wood J, Dagnew RE, Guan D, London SE, Clayton DF, Mello CV, Friedrich SR, Lovell PV, Osipova E, Al-Ajli FO, Secomandi S, Kim H, Theofanopoulou C, Hiller M, Zhou Y, Harris RS, Makova KD, Medvedev P, Hoffman J, Masterson P, Clark K, Martin F, Howe K, Flicek P, Walenz BP, Kwak W, Clawson H, Diekhans M, Nassar L, Paten B, Kraus RHS, Crawford AJ, Gilbert MTP, Zhang G, Venkatesh B, Murphy RW, Koepfli KP, Shapiro B, Johnson WE, Di Palma F, Marques-Bonet T, Teeling EC, Warnow T, Graves JM, Ryder OA, Haussler D, O'Brien SJ, Korlach J, Lewin HA, Howe K, Myers EW, Durbin R, Phillippy AM, Jarvis ED. Towards complete and error-free genome assemblies of all vertebrate species. Nature 2021; 592:737-746. [PMID: 33911273 PMCID: PMC8081667 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03451-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 752] [Impact Index Per Article: 250.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2020] [Accepted: 03/12/2021] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
High-quality and complete reference genome assemblies are fundamental for the application of genomics to biology, disease, and biodiversity conservation. However, such assemblies are available for only a few non-microbial species1-4. To address this issue, the international Genome 10K (G10K) consortium5,6 has worked over a five-year period to evaluate and develop cost-effective methods for assembling highly accurate and nearly complete reference genomes. Here we present lessons learned from generating assemblies for 16 species that represent six major vertebrate lineages. We confirm that long-read sequencing technologies are essential for maximizing genome quality, and that unresolved complex repeats and haplotype heterozygosity are major sources of assembly error when not handled correctly. Our assemblies correct substantial errors, add missing sequence in some of the best historical reference genomes, and reveal biological discoveries. These include the identification of many false gene duplications, increases in gene sizes, chromosome rearrangements that are specific to lineages, a repeated independent chromosome breakpoint in bat genomes, and a canonical GC-rich pattern in protein-coding genes and their regulatory regions. Adopting these lessons, we have embarked on the Vertebrate Genomes Project (VGP), an international effort to generate high-quality, complete reference genomes for all of the roughly 70,000 extant vertebrate species and to help to enable a new era of discovery across the life sciences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arang Rhie
- Genome Informatics Section, Computational and Statistical Genomics Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Shane A McCarthy
- Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Wellcome Sanger Institute, Cambridge, UK
| | - Olivier Fedrigo
- Vertebrate Genome Lab, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Joana Damas
- The Genome Center, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Giulio Formenti
- Vertebrate Genome Lab, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
- Laboratory of Neurogenetics of Language, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Sergey Koren
- Genome Informatics Section, Computational and Statistical Genomics Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Marcela Uliano-Silva
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Berlin, Germany
- Berlin Center for Genomics in Biodiversity Research, Berlin, Germany
| | | | | | - Juwan Kim
- Interdisciplinary Program in Bioinformatics, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Chul Lee
- Interdisciplinary Program in Bioinformatics, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Byung June Ko
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology and Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Mark Chaisson
- University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Gregory L Gedman
- Laboratory of Neurogenetics of Language, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Lindsey J Cantin
- Laboratory of Neurogenetics of Language, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Francoise Thibaud-Nissen
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Leanne Haggerty
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, UK
| | - Iliana Bista
- Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Wellcome Sanger Institute, Cambridge, UK
| | | | - Bettina Haase
- Vertebrate Genome Lab, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | | | - Sylke Winkler
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany
- DRESDEN-concept Genome Center, Dresden, Germany
| | - Sadye Paez
- Vertebrate Genome Lab, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
- Laboratory of Neurogenetics of Language, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | | | - Sonja C Vernes
- Neurogenetics of Vocal Communication Group, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
| | - Tanya M Lama
- University of Massachusetts Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Amherst, MA, USA
| | - Frank Grutzner
- School of Biological Science, The Environment Institute, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Wesley C Warren
- Bond Life Sciences Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA
| | | | - Dave Burt
- UQ Genomics, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Julia M George
- Department of Biological Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA
| | - Matthew T Biegler
- Laboratory of Neurogenetics of Language, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - David Iorns
- The Genetic Rescue Foundation, Wellington, New Zealand
| | - Andrew Digby
- Kākāpō Recovery, Department of Conservation, Invercargill, New Zealand
| | - Daryl Eason
- Kākāpō Recovery, Department of Conservation, Invercargill, New Zealand
| | - Bruce Robertson
- Department of Zoology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | | | - Mark Wilkinson
- Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK
| | - George Turner
- School of Natural Sciences, Bangor University, Gwynedd, UK
| | - Axel Meyer
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Andreas F Kautt
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Paolo Franchini
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - H William Detrich
- Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences, Northeastern University Marine Science Center, Nahant, MA, USA
| | - Hannes Svardal
- Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
- Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Maximilian Wagner
- Institute of Biology, Karl-Franzens University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Gavin J P Naylor
- Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Martin Pippel
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany
- Center for Systems Biology, Dresden, Germany
| | - Milan Malinsky
- Wellcome Sanger Institute, Cambridge, UK
- Zoological Institute, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | | | | | | | - Trevor Pesout
- UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Ivan Sović
- Pacific Biosciences, Menlo Park, CA, USA
- Digital BioLogic, Ivanić-Grad, Croatia
| | | | - Zemin Ning
- Wellcome Sanger Institute, Cambridge, UK
| | | | - Joyce Lee
- Bionano Genomics, San Diego, CA, USA
| | | | - Richard E Green
- UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
- Dovetail Genomics, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | | | - Ivo Gut
- CNAG-CRG, Centre for Genomic Regulation, Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Jay Ghurye
- Dovetail Genomics, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
- Department of Computer Science, University of Maryland College Park, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Erik Garrison
- UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Ying Sims
- Wellcome Sanger Institute, Cambridge, UK
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Dengfeng Guan
- Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- School of Computer Science and Technology, Center for Bioinformatics, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China
| | - Sarah E London
- Department of Psychology, Institute for Mind and Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - David F Clayton
- Department of Genetics and Biochemistry, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA
| | - Claudio V Mello
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, USA
| | - Samantha R Friedrich
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, USA
| | - Peter V Lovell
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, USA
| | - Ekaterina Osipova
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany
- Center for Systems Biology, Dresden, Germany
- Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Dresden, Germany
| | - Farooq O Al-Ajli
- Monash University Malaysia Genomics Facility, School of Science, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
- Tropical Medicine and Biology Multidisciplinary Platform, Monash University Malaysia, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
- Qatar Falcon Genome Project, Doha, Qatar
| | | | - Heebal Kim
- Interdisciplinary Program in Bioinformatics, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology and Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- eGnome, Inc., Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | | | - Michael Hiller
- LOEWE Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics, Frankfurt, Germany
- Senckenberg Research Institute, Frankfurt, Germany
- Goethe-University, Faculty of Biosciences, Frankfurt, Germany
| | | | - Robert S Harris
- Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Kateryna D Makova
- Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
- Center for Medical Genomics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
- Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Paul Medvedev
- Center for Medical Genomics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
- Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Jinna Hoffman
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Patrick Masterson
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Karen Clark
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Fergal Martin
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, UK
| | - Kevin Howe
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, UK
| | - Paul Flicek
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, UK
| | - Brian P Walenz
- Genome Informatics Section, Computational and Statistical Genomics Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Woori Kwak
- eGnome, Inc., Seoul, Republic of Korea
- Hoonygen, Seoul, Korea
| | - Hiram Clawson
- UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Mark Diekhans
- UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Luis Nassar
- UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Benedict Paten
- UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Robert H S Kraus
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany
| | - Andrew J Crawford
- Department of Biological Sciences, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - M Thomas P Gilbert
- Center for Evolutionary Hologenomics, The GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- University Museum, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Guojie Zhang
- China National Genebank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
- Villum Center for Biodiversity Genomics, Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
- Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
| | - Byrappa Venkatesh
- Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, A*STAR, Biopolis, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Robert W Murphy
- Centre for Biodiversity, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Klaus-Peter Koepfli
- Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Center for Species Survival, National Zoological Park, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Beth Shapiro
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, MD, USA
| | - Warren E Johnson
- Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Center for Species Survival, National Zoological Park, Washington, DC, USA
- The Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit, Museum Support Center MRC-534, Smithsonian Institution, Suitland, MD, USA
- Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, MD, USA
| | - Federica Di Palma
- Department of Biological Sciences, Earlham Institute, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
| | - Tomas Marques-Bonet
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology (UPF-CSIC), PRBB, Barcelona, Spain
- Catalan Institution of Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Barcelona, Spain
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Emma C Teeling
- School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Tandy Warnow
- Department of Computer Science, The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| | | | - Oliver A Ryder
- San Diego Zoo Global, Escondido, CA, USA
- Department of Evolution, Behavior, and Ecology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - David Haussler
- UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Stephen J O'Brien
- Laboratory of Genomics Diversity-Center for Computer Technologies, ITMO University, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation
- Guy Harvey Oceanographic Center, Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA
| | | | - Harris A Lewin
- The Genome Center, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA
- Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA
- John Muir Institute for the Environment, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | | | - Eugene W Myers
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany.
- Center for Systems Biology, Dresden, Germany.
- Faculty of Computer Science, Technical University Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
| | - Richard Durbin
- Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
- Wellcome Sanger Institute, Cambridge, UK.
| | - Adam M Phillippy
- Genome Informatics Section, Computational and Statistical Genomics Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
| | - Erich D Jarvis
- Vertebrate Genome Lab, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA.
- Laboratory of Neurogenetics of Language, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA.
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, MD, USA.
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23
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Choe HN, Tewari J, Zhu KW, Davenport M, Matsunami H, Jarvis ED. Estrogen and sex-dependent loss of the vocal learning system in female zebra finches. Horm Behav 2021; 129:104911. [PMID: 33422557 PMCID: PMC7996629 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2020.104911] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2020] [Revised: 11/29/2020] [Accepted: 12/01/2020] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Sex hormones alter the organization of the brain during early development and coordinate various behaviors throughout life. In zebra finches, song learning is limited to males, with the associated song learning brain pathways only maturing in males and atrophying in females. While this atrophy can be prevented by treating females with exogenous estrogen during early post-hatch development, the requirement of estrogen during normal male song system development is uncertain. For the first time in songbirds, we administered exemestane, a potent third generation estrogen synthesis inhibitor, from the day of hatching until adulthood in order to reassess the role of estrogen in song circuit development. We examined the behavior, brain anatomy, and transcriptomes of individual song nuclei in these pharmacologically manipulated animals. We found that males with long-term exemestane treatment had diminished male-specific plumage and impaired song learning, but minimal effect on song nuclei sizes and their specialized transcriptome. Consistent with prior findings, females with long-term estrogen treatment retained a functional song system with song nuclei that had specialized gene expression similar, but not identical to males. We also observed that different song nuclei responded to estrogen manipulation differently, with Area X in the striatum being the most altered by estrogen modulation. These findings support the hypothesis that song learning is an ancestral trait in both sexes that was subsequently suppressed in females of some species and that estrogen has come to play a critical role in modulating this suppression as well as refinement of song learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ha Na Choe
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA; Department of Neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
| | - Jeevan Tewari
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA
| | - Kevin W Zhu
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA
| | - Matthew Davenport
- Laboratory of Neurogenetics of Language, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Hiroaki Matsunami
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA; Department of Neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
| | - Erich D Jarvis
- Department of Neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA; Laboratory of Neurogenetics of Language, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA; The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, MD 20815, USA.
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24
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Cooke EK, White SA. Learning in the time of COVID: insights from the zebra finch - a social vocal-learner. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2021; 68:84-90. [PMID: 33571938 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2021.01.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2020] [Revised: 01/06/2021] [Accepted: 01/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth K Cooke
- Interdepartmental Program in Neuroscience, University of California, Los Angeles, 90095, USA
| | - Stephanie A White
- Interdepartmental Program in Neuroscience, University of California, Los Angeles, 90095, USA; Department of Integrative Biology & Physiology, University of California, Los Angeles, 90095, USA.
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25
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Doolittle EL. "Hearken to the Hermit-Thrush": A Case Study in Interdisciplinary Listening. Front Psychol 2020; 11:613510. [PMID: 33362674 PMCID: PMC7756056 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.613510] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2020] [Accepted: 11/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Birdsong is widely analysed and discussed by people coming from both musical and scientific backgrounds. Both approaches provide valuable insight, but I argue that it is only through combining musical and scientific points of view, as well as perspectives from more tangentially related fields, that we can obtain the best possible understanding of birdsong. In this paper, I discuss how my own training as a musician, and in particular as a composer, affects how I listen to and parse birdsong. I identify nine areas of overlap between human music and birdsong, which may serve as starting points both for musical and scientific analysis, as well as for interdisciplinary analysis as practiced in the developing field of "zoomusicology." Using the hermit thrush (Catharus guttatus) as an example, I discuss how the song of a single species has been described by writers from a variety of disciplines, including music, literature, and the sciences, as well as how we can contextualise these varied perspectives in terms of broader cultural thought trends. I end with discussion of how combining approaches from multiple fields can help us to figure out new questions to ask, can help us identify how our own cultural biases may affect how we hear birdsong, and ultimately can help us develop richer and more nuanced understandings of the songs themselves.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily L Doolittle
- Department of Research and Knowledge Exchange, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow, United Kingdom
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26
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Hacohen-Kleiman G, Moaraf S, Kapitansky O, Gozes I. Sex-and Region-Dependent Expression of the Autism-Linked ADNP Correlates with Social- and Speech-Related Genes in the Canary Brain. J Mol Neurosci 2020; 70:1671-1683. [PMID: 32926339 DOI: 10.1007/s12031-020-01700-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/05/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
The activity-dependent neuroprotective protein (ADNP) syndrome is an autistic-like disorder, instigated by mutations in ADNP. This syndrome is characterized by developmental delays, impairments in speech, motor function, abnormal hearing, and intellectual disabilities. In the Adnp-haploinsufficient mouse model, many of these impediments are evident, appearing in a sex-dependent manner. In zebra finch songbird (ZF; Taeniopygia guttata), an animal model used for song/language studies, ADNP mRNA most robust expression is observed in the cerebrum of young males, potentially corroborating with male ZF exclusive singing behavior and developed cerebral song system. Herein, we report a similar sex-dependent ADNP expression profile, with the highest expression in the cerebrum (qRT-PCR) in the brain of another songbird, the domesticated canary (Serinus canaria domestica). Additional analyses for the mRNA transcripts of the ADNP regulator, vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), sister gene ADNP2, and speech-related Forkhead box protein P2 (FoxP2) revealed multiple sex and brain region-dependent positive correlations between the genes (including ADNP). Parallel transcript expression patterns for FoxP2 and VIP were observed alongside specific FoxP2 increase in males compared with females as well as VIP/ADNP2 correlations. In spatial view, a sexually independent extensive form of expression was found for ADNP in the canary cerebrum (RNA in situ hybridization). The songbird cerebral mesopallium area stood out as a potentially high-expressing ADNP tissue, further strengthening the association of ADNP with sense integration and auditory memory formation, previously implicated in mouse and human.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gal Hacohen-Kleiman
- The Elton Laboratory for Neuroendocrinology, Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Sagol School of Neuroscience and Adams Super Center for Brain Studies, Tel Aviv University, 69978, Tel Aviv, Israel
- Department of Natural and Life Sciences, The Open University of Israel, 43107, Ra'anana, Israel
| | - Stan Moaraf
- Department of Natural and Life Sciences, The Open University of Israel, 43107, Ra'anana, Israel
- School of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, 6997801, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Oxana Kapitansky
- The Elton Laboratory for Neuroendocrinology, Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Sagol School of Neuroscience and Adams Super Center for Brain Studies, Tel Aviv University, 69978, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Illana Gozes
- The Elton Laboratory for Neuroendocrinology, Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Sagol School of Neuroscience and Adams Super Center for Brain Studies, Tel Aviv University, 69978, Tel Aviv, Israel.
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27
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Abstract
Although the fighting behaviour in gamecocks has evolved because of artificial selection, it is unknown whether the selection for aggressiveness affects neurotransmitter levels in the avian central nervous system. We sought to identify the source and origin of this trait. We collected the brain samples from 6 female Shamo gamecocks and 5 Shaver Brown chickens (control; bred for egg production). The midbrain levels of norepinephrine (NE) were significantly higher in Shamo gamecocks (P = 0.0087) than in the controls. Moreover, alleles encoding adrenergic receptors differed between the breeds in terms of response to NE. Gene mutations specific to Shamo and potentially associated with fighting behaviour were in sites T440N of ADRα1D; V296I of ADRα2A; and T44I, Q232R, and T277M of ADRβ2. The evolutionary analysis indicated that the ADRβ2 (T44I and Q232R) mutations were heritable in all Galliformes, whereas the T440N mutation of ADRα1D and V296I mutations of ADRα2A were unique to Shamo and originated by artificial selection. A high NE level may confer a selective advantage by enabling gamecocks to be aggressive and pain tolerant. Therefore, the strong fighting behaviour of Shamo has resulted from a combination of naturally inherited and mutant genes derived by artificial selection.
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28
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Transcriptome signatures in the brain of a migratory songbird. COMPARATIVE BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY D-GENOMICS & PROTEOMICS 2020; 34:100681. [PMID: 32222683 DOI: 10.1016/j.cbd.2020.100681] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2019] [Revised: 02/06/2020] [Accepted: 03/15/2020] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Most of the birds's adaptations for migration have a neuroendocrine origin, triggered by changes in photoperiod and the patterns of Earth's magnetic field. Migration phenomenology has been well described in the past decades, yet the genetic structure behind it remains terra incognita. We used RNA-Seq data to investigate which biological functions are linked with the seasonal brain adaptations of a long-distance trans-continental migratory passerine, the Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe). We sequenced the wheatear's transcriptomes at three different stages: lean birds, a characteristic phenotype before the onset of migration, during fattening, and at their maximal migratory body mass. We identified a total of 15,357 genes in the brain of wheatears, of which 84 were differentially expressed. These were mostly related to nervous tissue development, angiogenesis, ATP production, innate immune response, and antioxidant protection, as well as GABA and dopamine signalling. The expression pattern of differentially expressed genes is correlated with typical phenotypic changes before migration, such as hyperphagia, migratory restlessness, and a potential increment in the visual and spatial memory capacities. Our work points out, for future studies, biological functions found to be involved in the development of the migratory phenotype -a unique model to study the core of neural, energetic and muscular adaptations for endurance exercise. Comparison of wheatears' transcriptomic data with two other studies with similar goals shows no correlation among the trends in the gene expression. It highlights the complexity and diversity of adaptations for long-distance migration in birds.
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Kosubek-Langer J, Scharff C. Dynamic FoxP2 levels in male zebra finches are linked to morphology of adult-born Area X medium spiny neurons. Sci Rep 2020; 10:4787. [PMID: 32179863 PMCID: PMC7075913 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-61740-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2019] [Accepted: 02/29/2020] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
The transcription factor FOXP2 is crucial for the formation and function of cortico-striatal circuits. FOXP2 mutations are associated with specific speech and language impairments. In songbirds, experimentally altered FoxP2 expression levels in the striatal song nucleus Area X impair vocal learning and song production. Overall FoxP2 protein levels in Area X are low in adult zebra finches and decrease further with singing. However, some Area X medium spiny neurons (MSNs) express FoxP2 at high levels (FoxP2high MSNs) and singing does not change this. Because Area X receives many new neurons throughout adulthood, we hypothesized that the FoxP2high MSNs are newly recruited neurons, not yet integrated into the local Area X circuitry and thus not active during singing. Contrary to our expectation, FoxP2 protein levels did not predict whether new MSNs were active during singing, assayed via immediate early gene expression. However, new FoxP2high MSNs had more complex dendrites, higher spine density and more mushroom spines than new FoxP2low MSNs. In addition, FoxP2 expression levels correlated positively with nucleus size of new MSNs. Together, our data suggest that dynamic FoxP2 levels in new MSNs shape their morphology during maturation and their incorporation into a neural circuit that enables the maintenance and social modulation of adult birdsong.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Kosubek-Langer
- Department of Animal Behavior, Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Constance Scharff
- Department of Animal Behavior, Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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Lovell PV, Wirthlin M, Kaser T, Buckner AA, Carleton JB, Snider BR, McHugh AK, Tolpygo A, Mitra PP, Mello CV. ZEBrA: Zebra finch Expression Brain Atlas-A resource for comparative molecular neuroanatomy and brain evolution studies. J Comp Neurol 2020; 528:2099-2131. [PMID: 32037563 DOI: 10.1002/cne.24879] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2019] [Revised: 01/22/2020] [Accepted: 01/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
An in-depth understanding of the genetics and evolution of brain function and behavior requires a detailed mapping of gene expression in functional brain circuits across major vertebrate clades. Here we present the Zebra finch Expression Brain Atlas (ZEBrA; www.zebrafinchatlas.org, RRID: SCR_012988), a web-based resource that maps the expression of genes linked to a broad range of functions onto the brain of zebra finches. ZEBrA is a first of its kind gene expression brain atlas for a bird species and a first for any sauropsid. ZEBrA's >3,200 high-resolution digital images of in situ hybridized sections for ~650 genes (as of June 2019) are presented in alignment with an annotated histological atlas and can be browsed down to cellular resolution. An extensive relational database connects expression patterns to information about gene function, mouse expression patterns and phenotypes, and gene involvement in human diseases and communication disorders. By enabling brain-wide gene expression assessments in a bird, ZEBrA provides important substrates for comparative neuroanatomy and molecular brain evolution studies. ZEBrA also provides unique opportunities for linking genetic pathways to vocal learning and motor control circuits, as well as for novel insights into the molecular basis of sex steroids actions, brain dimorphisms, reproductive and social behaviors, sleep function, and adult neurogenesis, among many fundamental themes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter V Lovell
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon
| | - Morgan Wirthlin
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon
| | - Taylor Kaser
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon
| | - Alexa A Buckner
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon
| | - Julia B Carleton
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon
| | - Brian R Snider
- Center for Spoken Language Understanding, Institute on Development and Disability, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon
| | - Anne K McHugh
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon
| | | | - Partha P Mitra
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York
| | - Claudio V Mello
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon
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31
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Silva PA, Trigo S, Marques CI, Cardoso GC, Soares MC. Experimental evidence for a role of dopamine in avian personality traits. J Exp Biol 2020; 223:jeb216499. [PMID: 31953366 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.216499] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2019] [Accepted: 01/10/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
There is increasing interest in the genetic and physiological bases of behavioural differences among individuals, namely animal personality. One particular dopamine (DA) receptor gene (the dopamine receptor D4 gene) has been used as candidate gene to explain personality differences, but with mixed results. Here, we used an alternative approach, exogenously manipulating the dopaminergic system and testing for effects on personality assays in a social bird species, the common waxbill (Estrilda astrild). We treated birds with agonists and antagonists for DA receptors of both D1 and D2 receptor pathways (the latter includes the D4 receptor) and found that short-term manipulation of DA signalling had an immediate effect on personality-related behaviours. In an assay of social responses (mirror test), manipulation of D2 receptor pathways reduced time spent looking at the social stimulus (mirror image). Blocking D2 receptors reduced motor activity in this social assay, while treatment with a D2 receptor agonist augmented activity in this social assay but reduced activity in a non-social behavioural assay. Also, in the non-social assay, treatment with the D1 receptor antagonist markedly increased time spent at the feeder. These results show distinct and context-specific effects of the dopaminergic pathways on waxbill personality traits. Our results also suggest that experimental manipulation of DA signalling can disrupt a behavioural correlation (more active individuals being less attentive to mirror image) that is habitually observed as part of a behavioural syndrome in waxbills. We discuss our results in the context of animal personality, and the role of the DA system in reward and social behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paulo A Silva
- CIBIO-InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos da Universidade do Porto, Vairão 4485-661, Portugal
| | - Sandra Trigo
- CIBIO-InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos da Universidade do Porto, Vairão 4485-661, Portugal
| | - Cristiana I Marques
- CIBIO-InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos da Universidade do Porto, Vairão 4485-661, Portugal
| | - Gonçalo C Cardoso
- CIBIO-InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos da Universidade do Porto, Vairão 4485-661, Portugal
- Behavioural Ecology Group, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
| | - Marta C Soares
- CIBIO-InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos da Universidade do Porto, Vairão 4485-661, Portugal
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Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Has a Transsynaptic Trophic Effect on Neural Activity in an Adult Forebrain Circuit. J Neurosci 2019; 40:1226-1231. [PMID: 31857358 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2375-19.2019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2019] [Revised: 12/02/2019] [Accepted: 12/11/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
While hormone-driven plasticity in the adult brain is well studied, the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms are less well understood. One example of this is seasonal plasticity in the avian brain, where song nuclei exhibit hormonally driven changes in response to changing photoperiod and circulating sex steroid hormones. Hormone receptor activation in song nucleus HVC (proper name) elicits a robust change in activity in target nucleus RA (robust nucleus of the arcopallium), but the molecular signal responsible for this is unknown. This study addressed whether brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) mediates a transsynaptic effect from HVC to RA in male Gambel's white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys gambelii). In situ hybridization confirmed an increase in BDNF expression in HVC neurons of birds switched to a long-day (LD) photoperiod plus systemically elevated testosterone (T) levels, compared with short-day (SD) conditions. BDNF expression was virtually absent in RA neurons of SD birds, increasing to barely detectable levels in a small subset of cells in LD+T birds. Infusion of BDNF protein adjacent to the RA of SD birds caused an increase in the spontaneous neuron firing rate. Conversely, the infusion of ANA12, a specific antagonist of the tyrosine-related kinase B (TrkB) for BDNF, prevented the increase in RA neuron firing rate in LD+T birds. These results indicate that BDNF is sufficient, and TrkB receptor activation is necessary, for the transsynaptic trophic effect exerted by HVC on RA. The dramatic change in the activity of RA neurons during the breeding season provides a clear example of transsynaptic BDNF effects in the adult brain in a functionally relevant circuit.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Sex steroid hormones drive changes in brain circuits in all vertebrates, both within specific neurons and on their synaptic targets. Such changes can lead to profound changes in behavior, but little is known about the precise molecular mechanisms that underlie this process. We addressed this question in a seasonally breeding songbird and found that the trophic effects of one forebrain song nucleus on its target are mediated transsynaptically by the neurotrophin BDNF. This suggests that, in addition to their role in development, neurotrophins have critical roles in adult brain plasticity.
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Cofresí RU, Bartholow BD, Piasecki TM. Evidence for incentive salience sensitization as a pathway to alcohol use disorder. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2019; 107:897-926. [PMID: 31672617 PMCID: PMC6878895 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.10.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2019] [Revised: 10/14/2019] [Accepted: 10/15/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
The incentive salience sensitization (ISS) theory of addiction holds that addictive behavior stems from the ability of drugs to progressively sensitize the brain circuitry that mediates attribution of incentive salience (IS) to reward-predictive cues and its behavioral manifestations. In this article, we establish the plausibility of ISS as an etiological pathway to alcohol use disorder (AUD). We provide a comprehensive and critical review of evidence for: (1) the ability of alcohol to sensitize the brain circuitry of IS attribution and expression; and (2) attribution of IS to alcohol-predictive cues and its sensitization in humans and non-human animals. We point out gaps in the literature and how these might be addressed. We also highlight how individuals with different alcohol subjective response phenotypes may differ in susceptibility to ISS as a pathway to AUD. Finally, we discuss important implications of this neuropsychological mechanism in AUD for psychological and pharmacological interventions attempting to attenuate alcohol craving and cue reactivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roberto U Cofresí
- University of Missouri, Department of Psychological Sciences, Columbia, MO 65211, United States.
| | - Bruce D Bartholow
- University of Missouri, Department of Psychological Sciences, Columbia, MO 65211, United States
| | - Thomas M Piasecki
- University of Missouri, Department of Psychological Sciences, Columbia, MO 65211, United States
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Differential Song Deficits after Lentivirus-Mediated Knockdown of FoxP1, FoxP2, or FoxP4 in Area X of Juvenile Zebra Finches. J Neurosci 2019; 39:9782-9796. [PMID: 31641053 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1250-19.2019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2019] [Revised: 09/30/2019] [Accepted: 10/01/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Mutations in the transcription factors FOXP1 and FOXP2 are associated with speech impairments. FOXP1 is additionally linked to cognitive deficits, as is FOXP4. These FoxP proteins are highly conserved in vertebrates and expressed in comparable brain regions, including the striatum. In male zebra finches, experimental manipulation of FoxP2 in Area X, a striatal song nucleus essential for vocal production learning, affects song development, adult song production, dendritic spine density, and dopamine-regulated synaptic transmission of striatal neurons. We previously showed that, in the majority of Area X neurons FoxP1, FoxP2, and FoxP4 are coexpressed, can dimerize and multimerize with each other and differentially regulate the expression of target genes. These findings raise the possibility that FoxP1, FoxP2, and FoxP4 (FoxP1/2/4) affect neural function differently and in turn vocal learning. To address this directly, we downregulated FoxP1 or FoxP4 in Area X of juvenile zebra finches and compared the resulting song phenotypes with the previously described inaccurate and incomplete song learning after FoxP2 knockdown. We found that experimental downregulation of FoxP1 and FoxP4 led to impaired song learning with partly similar features as those reported for FoxP2 knockdowns. However, there were also specific differences between the groups, leading us to suggest that specific features of the song are differentially impacted by developmental manipulations of FoxP1/2/4 expression in Area X.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT We compared the effects of experimentally reduced expression of the transcription factors FoxP1, FoxP2, and FoxP4 in a striatal song nucleus, Area X, on vocal production learning in juvenile male zebra finches. We show, for the first time, that these temporally and spatially precise manipulations of the three FoxPs affect spectral and temporal song features differentially. This is important because it raises the possibility that the different FoxPs control different aspects of vocal learning through combinatorial gene expression or by acting in different microcircuits within Area X. These results are consistent with the deleterious effects of human FOXP1 and FOXP2 mutations on speech and language and add FOXP4 as a possible candidate gene for vocal disorders.
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35
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Hahn AH, Spool JA, Angyal CS, Stevenson SA, Riters LV. Conditioned place preferences induced by hearing song outside the breeding season relate to neural dopamine D 1 and cannabinoid CB 1 receptor gene expression in female European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris). Behav Brain Res 2019; 371:111970. [PMID: 31128162 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2019.111970] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2018] [Revised: 05/21/2019] [Accepted: 05/21/2019] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
The affective state induced by sensory stimuli changes to adaptively modify behaviors that are critical for survival and reproduction. In European starlings, during the spring breeding season, male courtship song is rewarding to females, but only to those that possess resources that are necessary for reproduction (i.e., nesting sites). In fall, starling song is non-sexual and proposed to maintain flocks. This suggests that in fall it may be adaptive for females to be rewarded by fall rather than spring, courtship song. We used a conditioned place preference (CPP) test to evaluate song-induced affective state in fall condition females and quantitative real-time PCR to measure expression of genes that modulate affective state (CB1 endocannabinoid and D1 dopamine receptors) in brain regions that were previously implicated in song-induced reward (i.e., the medial preoptic nucleus (mPOA) and ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH)). Fall condition females developed an aversion to a place that had been paired with playback of both male fall and courtship song, indicating that in general male song induces a negative affective state outside the breeding season. Song-induced aversion was stronger in birds conditioned towards an initial place preference. For mPOA, CB1 receptor expression correlated positively with fall and spring song-induced CPP. D1 receptor expression correlated negatively with fall (but not spring) song-induced CPP, and the ratio of CB1 to D1 receptor expression correlated positively with fall (but not spring) song-induced CPP. These correlations suggest that interactions between D1 and CB1 receptors in mPOA may play a role in modifying affective responses to song.
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Affiliation(s)
- Allison H Hahn
- Department of Integrative Biology, 428 Birge Hall, 430 Lincoln Drive, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
| | - Jeremy A Spool
- Department of Integrative Biology, 428 Birge Hall, 430 Lincoln Drive, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
| | - Caroline S Angyal
- Department of Integrative Biology, 428 Birge Hall, 430 Lincoln Drive, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
| | - Sharon A Stevenson
- Department of Integrative Biology, 428 Birge Hall, 430 Lincoln Drive, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
| | - Lauren V Riters
- Department of Integrative Biology, 428 Birge Hall, 430 Lincoln Drive, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA.
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36
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The expression of DARPP-32 in adult male zebra finches (Taenopygia guttata). Brain Struct Funct 2019; 224:2939-2972. [PMID: 31473781 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-019-01947-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2019] [Accepted: 08/20/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Although the catecholaminergic circuitry in the zebra finch brain has been well studied, there is little information regarding the postsynaptic targets of dopamine. To answer this question, we looked at overall patterns of immunoreactivity for DARPP-32 (a dopamine and cAMP-regulated phosphoprotein, present mostly in dopaminoceptive neurons) in adult male zebra finches. Our results demonstrated that as in mammals and other avian species, DARPP-32 expression was highest in both medial and lateral striatum. Interestingly, a specific pattern of immunoreactivity was observed in the song control system, with 'core' song control regions, that is, LMANcore (lateral magnocellular nucleus of the anterior nidopallium), RA (nucleus robustus arcopallialis) and HVC being less immunoreactive for DARPP-32 than 'shell' areas such as LMANshell, RAcup, AId (intermediate arcopallium) and HVCshelf. Our results suggest that whereas dopamine may modulate the shell pathways at various levels of the AFP, dopaminergic modulation of the core pathway occurs mainly through Area X, a basal ganglia nucleus. Further, secondary sensory cortices including the perientopallial belt, Fields L1 and L3 had higher DARPP-32-immunoreactivity than primary sensory cortical areas such as the pallial basolateral nucleus, entopallium proper and Field L2, corresponding to somatosensory, visual and auditory systems, respectively. We also found DARPP-32-rich axon terminals surrounding dopaminergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area-substantia nigra complex which in turn project to the striatum, suggesting that there may be a reciprocal modulation between these regions. Overall, DARPP-32 expression appears to be higher in areas involved in integrating sensory information, which further supports the role of this protein as a molecular integrator of different signal processing pathways.
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37
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Prabhat A, Jha NA, Taufique SKT, Kumar V. Dissociation of circadian activity and singing behavior from gene expression rhythms in the hypothalamus, song control nuclei and cerebellum in diurnal zebra finches. Chronobiol Int 2019; 36:1268-1284. [DOI: 10.1080/07420528.2019.1637887] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Vinod Kumar
- Department of Zoology, University of Delhi, Delhi, India
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Day NF, Saxon D, Robbins A, Harris L, Nee E, Shroff-Mehta N, Stout K, Sun J, Lillie N, Burns M, Korn C, Coleman MJ. D2 dopamine receptor activation induces female preference for male song in the monogamous zebra finch. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2019; 222:222/5/jeb191510. [PMID: 30850509 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.191510] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2018] [Accepted: 02/11/2019] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
The evolutionary conservation of neural mechanisms for forming and maintaining pair bonds is unclear. Oxytocin, vasopressin and dopamine (DA) transmitter systems have been shown to be important in pair-bond formation and maintenance in several vertebrate species. We examined the role of dopamine in formation of song preference in zebra finches, a monogamous bird. Male courtship song is an honest signal of sexual fitness; thus, we measured female song preference to evaluate the role of DA in mate selection and pair-bond formation, using an operant conditioning paradigm. We found that DA acting through the D2 receptor, but not the D1 receptor, can induce a song preference in unpaired female finches and that blocking the D2 receptor abolished song preference in paired females. These results suggest that similar neural mechanisms for pair-bond formation are evolutionarily conserved in rodents and birds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nancy F Day
- Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095-7246, USA
| | - David Saxon
- W.M. Keck Science Department of Claremont McKenna, Pitzer and Scripps Colleges, Claremont, CA 91711-5916, USA
| | - Anastasia Robbins
- W.M. Keck Science Department of Claremont McKenna, Pitzer and Scripps Colleges, Claremont, CA 91711-5916, USA
| | - Lily Harris
- W.M. Keck Science Department of Claremont McKenna, Pitzer and Scripps Colleges, Claremont, CA 91711-5916, USA
| | - Emily Nee
- W.M. Keck Science Department of Claremont McKenna, Pitzer and Scripps Colleges, Claremont, CA 91711-5916, USA
| | - Naomi Shroff-Mehta
- W.M. Keck Science Department of Claremont McKenna, Pitzer and Scripps Colleges, Claremont, CA 91711-5916, USA
| | - Kaeley Stout
- W.M. Keck Science Department of Claremont McKenna, Pitzer and Scripps Colleges, Claremont, CA 91711-5916, USA
| | - Julia Sun
- W.M. Keck Science Department of Claremont McKenna, Pitzer and Scripps Colleges, Claremont, CA 91711-5916, USA
| | - Natalie Lillie
- W.M. Keck Science Department of Claremont McKenna, Pitzer and Scripps Colleges, Claremont, CA 91711-5916, USA
| | - Mara Burns
- W.M. Keck Science Department of Claremont McKenna, Pitzer and Scripps Colleges, Claremont, CA 91711-5916, USA
| | - Clio Korn
- W.M. Keck Science Department of Claremont McKenna, Pitzer and Scripps Colleges, Claremont, CA 91711-5916, USA
| | - Melissa J Coleman
- W.M. Keck Science Department of Claremont McKenna, Pitzer and Scripps Colleges, Claremont, CA 91711-5916, USA
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Sen S, Parishar P, Pundir AS, Reiner A, Iyengar S. The expression of tyrosine hydroxylase and DARPP-32 in the house crow (Corvus splendens) brain. J Comp Neurol 2019; 527:1801-1836. [PMID: 30697741 DOI: 10.1002/cne.24649] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2018] [Revised: 01/22/2019] [Accepted: 01/24/2019] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
Birds of the family Corvidae which includes diverse species such as crows, rooks, ravens, magpies, jays, and jackdaws are known for their amazing abilities at problem-solving. Since the catecholaminergic system, especially the neurotransmitter dopamine, plays a role in cognition, we decided to study the distribution of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), the rate-limiting enzyme in the synthesis of catecholamines in the brain of house crows (Corvus splendens). We also studied the expression of DARPP-32 (dopamine and cAMP-regulated phosphoprotein), which is expressed in dopaminoceptive neurons. Our results demonstrated that as in other avian species, the expression of both TH and DARPP-32 was highest in the house crow striatum. The caudolateral nidopallium (NCL, the avian analogue of the mammalian prefrontal cortex) could be differentiated from the surrounding pallial regions based on a larger number of TH-positive "baskets" of fibers around neurons in this region and greater intensity of DARPP-32 staining in the neuropil in this region. House crows also possessed distinct nuclei in their brains which corresponded to song control regions in other songbirds. Whereas immunoreactivity for TH was higher in the vocal control region Area X compared to the surrounding MSt (medial striatum) in house crows, staining in RA and HVC was not as prominent. Furthermore, the arcopallial song control regions RA (nucleus robustus arcopallialis) and AId (intermediate arcopallium) were strikingly negative for DARPP-32 staining, in contrast to the surrounding arcopallium. Patterns of immunoreactivity for TH and DARPP-32 in "limbic" areas such as the hippocampus, septum, and extended amygdala have also been described.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shankhamala Sen
- Division of Systems Neuroscience, National Brain Research Centre, Gurugram, Haryana, India
| | - Pooja Parishar
- Division of Systems Neuroscience, National Brain Research Centre, Gurugram, Haryana, India
| | - Arvind Singh Pundir
- Division of Systems Neuroscience, National Brain Research Centre, Gurugram, Haryana, India
| | - Anton Reiner
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, Tennessee, United States.,Department of Ophthalmology, University of Tennessee, Memphis, Tennessee, United States
| | - Soumya Iyengar
- Division of Systems Neuroscience, National Brain Research Centre, Gurugram, Haryana, India
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40
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Tanaka M, Sun F, Li Y, Mooney R. A mesocortical dopamine circuit enables the cultural transmission of vocal behaviour. Nature 2018; 563:117-120. [PMID: 30333629 PMCID: PMC6219627 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0636-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2018] [Accepted: 08/21/2018] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
The cultural transmission of behaviour depends on the ability of the pupil to identify and emulate an appropriate tutor1-4. How the brain of the pupil detects a suitable tutor and encodes the behaviour of the tutor is largely unknown. Juvenile zebra finches readily copy the songs of the adult tutors that they interact with, but not the songs that they listen to passively through a speaker5,6, indicating that social cues generated by the tutor facilitate song imitation. Here we show that neurons in the midbrain periaqueductal grey of juvenile finches are selectively excited by a singing tutor and-by releasing dopamine in the cortical song nucleus HVC-help to encode the song representations of the tutor used for vocal copying. Blocking dopamine signalling in the HVC of the pupil during tutoring blocked copying, whereas pairing stimulation of periaqueductal grey terminals in the HVC with a song played through a speaker was sufficient to drive copying. Exposure to a singing tutor triggered the rapid emergence of responses to the tutor song in the HVC of the pupil and a rapid increase in the complexity of the song of the pupil, an early signature of song copying7,8. These findings reveal that a dopaminergic mesocortical circuit detects the presence of a tutor and helps to encode the performance of the tutor, facilitating the cultural transmission of vocal behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Masashi Tanaka
- Department of Neurobiology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
| | - Fangmiao Sun
- State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, Peking University School of Life Sciences, Beijing, China
- PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, China
| | - Yulong Li
- State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, Peking University School of Life Sciences, Beijing, China
- PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, China
- Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Richard Mooney
- Department of Neurobiology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
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41
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Lovell PV, Huizinga NA, Getachew A, Mees B, Friedrich SR, Wirthlin M, Mello CV. Curation of microarray oligonucleotides and corresponding ESTs/cDNAs used for gene expression analysis in zebra finches. BMC Res Notes 2018; 11:309. [PMID: 29776372 PMCID: PMC5960091 DOI: 10.1186/s13104-018-3402-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2018] [Accepted: 05/07/2018] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Zebra finches are a major model organism for investigating mechanisms of vocal learning, a trait that enables spoken language in humans. The development of cDNA collections with expressed sequence tags (ESTs) and microarrays has allowed for extensive molecular characterizations of circuitry underlying vocal learning and production. However, poor database curation can lead to errors in transcriptome and bioinformatics analyses, limiting the impact of these resources. Here we used genomic alignments and synteny analysis for orthology verification to curate and reannotate ~ 35% of the oligonucleotides and corresponding ESTs/cDNAs that make-up Agilent microarrays for gene expression analysis in finches. DATA DESCRIPTION We found that: (1) 5475 out of 43,084 oligos (a) failed to align to the zebra finch genome, (b) aligned to multiple loci, or (c) aligned to Chr_un only, and thus need to be flagged until a better genome assembly is available, or (d) reflect cloning artifacts; (2) Out of 9635 valid oligos examined further, 3120 were incorrectly named, including 1533 with no known orthologs; and (3) 2635 oligos required name update. The resulting curated dataset provides a reference for correcting gene identification errors in previous finch microarrays studies, and avoiding such errors in future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter V Lovell
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, OHSU, Portland, OR, 97221, USA
| | - Nicole A Huizinga
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, OHSU, Portland, OR, 97221, USA
| | - Abel Getachew
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, OHSU, Portland, OR, 97221, USA
| | - Brianna Mees
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, OHSU, Portland, OR, 97221, USA
| | | | - Morgan Wirthlin
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, OHSU, Portland, OR, 97221, USA.,Computational Biology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Claudio V Mello
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, OHSU, Portland, OR, 97221, USA.
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Sockman KW, Lyons SM. How Song Experience Affects Female Mate-Choice, Male Song, and Monoaminergic Activity in the Auditory Telencephalon in Lincoln's Sparrows. Integr Comp Biol 2018; 57:891-901. [PMID: 28992115 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icx080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
A sexual signal can indicate not only the signaler's attractiveness as a potential mate but also the signaler's competitiveness relative to rivals. As the attractiveness or competitiveness of the prevailing signaling environment increases, individuals prospecting for mates should change their choice threshold, whereas competing individuals should shift resources toward elevating their own competitiveness. Previous studies show that experimental elevations of song competition increase male competitive behavior in Lincoln's sparrows (Melospiza lincolnii) and European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris). Through a series of experimental manipulations using laboratory-housed Lincoln's sparrows, we have also discovered that females change the strength of their song preferences depending on the attractiveness of the song environment to which they have recently been exposed; compared to a less-attractive environment, a highly-attractive environment elevates the threshold for releasing phonotaxis behavior toward male song. These behavioral adjustments are associated with changes in forebrain monoaminergic activity that are triggered by experimental manipulations of the quality of the song environment. Findings from these studies suggest possible neural mechanisms for the regulation of adaptive behavioral plasticity associated with dynamic sexual signaling environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keith W Sockman
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Susan M Lyons
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
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Lovell PV, Huizinga NA, Friedrich SR, Wirthlin M, Mello CV. The constitutive differential transcriptome of a brain circuit for vocal learning. BMC Genomics 2018; 19:231. [PMID: 29614959 PMCID: PMC5883274 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-018-4578-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2017] [Accepted: 03/02/2018] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Background The ability to imitate the vocalizations of other organisms, a trait known as vocal learning, is shared by only a few organisms, including humans, where it subserves the acquisition of speech and language, and 3 groups of birds. In songbirds, vocal learning requires the coordinated activity of a set of specialized brain nuclei referred to as the song control system. Recent efforts have revealed some of the genes that are expressed in these vocal nuclei, however a thorough characterization of the transcriptional specializations of this system is still missing. We conducted a rigorous and comprehensive analysis of microarrays, and conducted a separate analysis of 380 genes by in situ hybridizations in order to identify molecular specializations of the major nuclei of the song system of zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata), a songbird species. Results Our efforts identified more than 3300 genes that are differentially regulated in one or more vocal nuclei of adult male birds compared to the adjacent brain regions. Bioinformatics analyses provided insights into the possible involvement of these genes in molecular pathways such as cellular morphogenesis, intrinsic cellular excitability, neurotransmission and neuromodulation, axonal guidance and cela-to-cell interactions, and cell survival, which are known to strongly influence the functional properties of the song system. Moreover, an in-depth analysis of specific gene families with known involvement in regulating the development and physiological properties of neuronal circuits provides further insights into possible modulators of the song system. Conclusion Our study represents one of the most comprehensive molecular characterizations of a brain circuit that evolved to facilitate a learned behavior in a vertebrate. The data provide novel insights into possible molecular determinants of the functional properties of the song control circuitry. It also provides lists of compelling targets for pharmacological and genetic manipulations to elucidate the molecular regulation of song behavior and vocal learning. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12864-018-4578-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter V Lovell
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health and Sciences University, 3181 Sam Jackson Park Rd L470, Portland, OR, USA
| | - Nicole A Huizinga
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health and Sciences University, 3181 Sam Jackson Park Rd L470, Portland, OR, USA
| | - Samantha R Friedrich
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health and Sciences University, 3181 Sam Jackson Park Rd L470, Portland, OR, USA
| | - Morgan Wirthlin
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health and Sciences University, 3181 Sam Jackson Park Rd L470, Portland, OR, USA.,Current affiliation: Computational Biology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Claudio V Mello
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health and Sciences University, 3181 Sam Jackson Park Rd L470, Portland, OR, USA.
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44
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Merullo DP, Asogwa CN, Sanchez-Valpuesta M, Hayase S, Pattnaik BR, Wada K, Riters LV. Neurotensin and neurotensin receptor 1 mRNA expression in song-control regions changes during development in male zebra finches. Dev Neurobiol 2018; 78:671-686. [PMID: 29569407 DOI: 10.1002/dneu.22589] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2017] [Revised: 03/15/2018] [Accepted: 03/16/2018] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Learned vocalizations are important for communication in some vertebrate taxa. The neural circuitry for the learning and production of vocalizations is well known in songbirds, many of which learn songs initially during a critical period early in life. Dopamine is essential for motor learning, including song learning, and dopamine-related measures change throughout development in song-control regions such as HVC, the lateral magnocellular nucleus of the anterior nidopallium (LMAN), Area X, and the robust nucleus of the arcopallium (RA). In mammals, the neuropeptide neurotensin strongly interacts with dopamine signaling. This study investigated a potential role for the neurotensin system in song learning by examining how neurotensin (Nts) and neurotensin receptor 1 (Ntsr1) expression change throughout development. Nts and Ntsr1 mRNA expression was analyzed in song-control regions of male zebra finches in four stages of the song learning process: pre-subsong (25 days posthatch; dph), subsong (45 dph), plastic song (60 dph), and crystallized song (130 dph). Nts expression in LMAN during the subsong stage was lower compared to other time points. Ntsr1 expression was highest in HVC, Area X, and RA during the pre-subsong stage. Opposite and complementary expression patterns for the two genes in song nuclei and across the whole brain suggest distinct roles for regions that produce and receive Nts. The expression changes at crucial time points for song development are similar to changes observed in dopamine studies and suggest Nts may be involved in the process of vocal learning. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 78: 671-686, 2018.
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Affiliation(s)
- Devin P Merullo
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706
| | - Chinweike N Asogwa
- Graduate School of Life Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-0810, Japan
| | | | - Shin Hayase
- Graduate School of Life Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-0810, Japan
| | - Bikash R Pattnaik
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706.,Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706
| | - Kazuhiro Wada
- Graduate School of Life Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-0810, Japan
| | - Lauren V Riters
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706
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45
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A common neural circuit mechanism for internally guided and externally reinforced forms of motor learning. Nat Neurosci 2018; 21:589-597. [PMID: 29483664 PMCID: PMC5963939 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-018-0092-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2017] [Accepted: 01/08/2018] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
The complex skills underlying verbal and musical expression can be learned without external punishment or reward, indicating their learning is internally guided. The neural mechanisms that mediate internally guided learning are poorly understood, but a circuit comprising dopamine-releasing neurons in the midbrain ventral tegmental area (VTA) and their targets in the basal ganglia are important to externally reinforced learning. Juvenile zebra finches copy a tutor song in a process that is internally guided and, in adulthood, can learn to modify the fundamental frequency (pitch) of a target syllable in response to external reinforcement with white noise. Here we combined intersectional genetic ablation of VTA neurons, reversible blockade of dopamine receptors in the basal ganglia, and singing-triggered optogenetic stimulation of VTA terminals to establish that a common VTA-basal ganglia circuit enables internally guided song copying and externally reinforced syllable pitch learning.
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46
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Lv C, Mo C, Liu H, Wu C, Li Z, Li J, Wang Y. Dopamine D2-like receptors (DRD2 and DRD4) in chickens: Tissue distribution, functional analysis, and their involvement in dopamine inhibition of pituitary prolactin expression. Gene 2018; 651:33-43. [PMID: 29382572 DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2018.01.087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2017] [Revised: 01/22/2018] [Accepted: 01/26/2018] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Dopamine (DA) D2-like (and D1-like) receptors are suggested to mediate the dopamine actions in the anterior pituitary and/or CNS of birds. However, the information regarding the structure, functionality, and expression of avian D2-like receptors have not been fully characterized. In this study, we cloned two D2-like receptors (cDRD2, cDRD4) from chicken brain using RACE PCR. The cloned cDRD4 is a 378-amino acid receptor, which shows 57% amino acid (a.a.) identity with mouse DRD4. As in mammals, two cDRD2 isoforms, cDRD2L (long isoform, 437 a.a.) and cDRD2S (short isoform, 408 a.a.), which differ in their third intracellular loop, were identified in chickens. Using cell-based luciferase reporter assays or Western blot, we demonstrated that cDRD4, cDRD2L and cDRD2S could be activated by dopamine and quinpirole (a D2-like receptor agonist) dose-dependently, and their activation inhibits cAMP signaling pathway and stimulates MAPK/ERK signaling cascade, indicating that they are functional receptors capable of mediating dopamine actions. Quantitative real-time PCR revealed that cDRD2 and cDRD4 are widely expressed in chicken tissues with abundant expression noted in anterior pituitary, and their expressions are likely controlled by their promoters near exon 1, as demonstrated by dual-luciferase reporter assays in DF-1 cells. In accordance with cDRD2/cDRD4 expression in the pituitary, DA or quinpirole could partially inhibit vasoactive intestinal peptide-induced prolactin expression in cultured chick pituitary cells. Together, our data proves the functionality of DRD2 and DRD4 in birds and aids to uncover the conserved roles of DA/D2-like receptor system in vertebrates, such as its action on the pituitary.
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Affiliation(s)
- Can Lv
- Key Laboratory of Bio-resources and Eco-environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, PR China
| | - Chunheng Mo
- Key Laboratory of Bio-resources and Eco-environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, PR China
| | - Haikun Liu
- Key Laboratory of Bio-resources and Eco-environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, PR China
| | - Chao Wu
- Key Laboratory of Bio-resources and Eco-environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, PR China
| | - Zhengyang Li
- Key Laboratory of Bio-resources and Eco-environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, PR China
| | - Juan Li
- Key Laboratory of Bio-resources and Eco-environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, PR China.
| | - Yajun Wang
- Key Laboratory of Bio-resources and Eco-environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, PR China.
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47
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Shi Z, Piccus Z, Zhang X, Yang H, Jarrell H, Ding Y, Teng Z, Tchernichovski O, Li X. miR-9 regulates basal ganglia-dependent developmental vocal learning and adult vocal performance in songbirds. eLife 2018; 7:29087. [PMID: 29345619 PMCID: PMC5800847 DOI: 10.7554/elife.29087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2017] [Accepted: 01/17/2018] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
miR-9 is an evolutionarily conserved miRNA that is abundantly expressed in Area X, a basal ganglia nucleus required for vocal learning in songbirds. Here, we report that overexpression of miR-9 in Area X of juvenile zebra finches impairs developmental vocal learning, resulting in a song with syllable omission, reduced similarity to the tutor song, and altered acoustic features. miR-9 overexpression in juveniles also leads to more variable song performance in adulthood, and abolishes social context-dependent modulation of song variability. We further show that these behavioral deficits are accompanied by downregulation of FoxP1 and FoxP2, genes that are known to be associated with language impairments, as well as by disruption of dopamine signaling and widespread changes in the expression of genes that are important in circuit development and functions. These findings demonstrate a vital role for miR-9 in basal ganglia function and vocal communication, suggesting that dysregulation of miR-9 in humans may contribute to language impairments and related neurodevelopmental disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhimin Shi
- Neuroscience Center of Excellence, Louisiana State University School of Medicine, New Orleans, United States
| | - Zoe Piccus
- Neuroscience Center of Excellence, Louisiana State University School of Medicine, New Orleans, United States
| | - Xiaofang Zhang
- Neuroscience Center of Excellence, Louisiana State University School of Medicine, New Orleans, United States
| | - Huidi Yang
- Neuroscience Center of Excellence, Louisiana State University School of Medicine, New Orleans, United States
| | - Hannah Jarrell
- Neuroscience Center of Excellence, Louisiana State University School of Medicine, New Orleans, United States
| | - Yan Ding
- Neuroscience Center of Excellence, Louisiana State University School of Medicine, New Orleans, United States
| | - Zhaoqian Teng
- Neuroscience Center of Excellence, Louisiana State University School of Medicine, New Orleans, United States
| | | | - XiaoChing Li
- Neuroscience Center of Excellence, Louisiana State University School of Medicine, New Orleans, United States
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48
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Herold C, Paulitschek C, Palomero-Gallagher N, Güntürkün O, Zilles K. Transmitter receptors reveal segregation of the arcopallium/amygdala complex in pigeons (Columba livia). J Comp Neurol 2017; 526:439-466. [PMID: 29063593 DOI: 10.1002/cne.24344] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2016] [Revised: 10/09/2017] [Accepted: 10/10/2017] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
At the beginning of the 20th century it was suggested that a complex group of nuclei in the avian posterior ventral telencephalon is comparable to the mammalian amygdala. Subsequent findings, however, revealed that most of these structures share premotor characteristics, while some indeed constitute the avian amygdala. These developments resulted in 2004 in a change of nomenclature of these nuclei, which from then on were named arcopallial or amygdala nuclei and referred to as the arcopallium/amygdala complex. The structural basis for the similarities between avian and mammalian arcopallial and amygdala subregions is poorly understood. Therefore, we analyzed binding site densities for glutamatergic AMPA, NMDA and kainate, GABAergic GABAA , muscarinic M1 , M2 and nicotinic acetylcholine (nACh; α4 β2 subtype), noradrenergic α1 and α2 , serotonergic 5-HT1A and dopaminergic D1/5 receptors using quantitative in vitro receptor autoradiography combined with a detailed analysis of the cyto- and myelo-architecture. Our approach supports a segregation of the pigeon's arcopallium/amygdala complex into the following subregions: the arcopallium anterius (AA), the arcopallium ventrale (AV), the arcopallium dorsale (AD), the arcopallium intermedium (AI), the arcopallium mediale (AM), the arcopallium posterius (AP), the nucleus posterioris amygdalopallii pars basalis (PoAb) and pars compacta (PoAc), the nucleus taeniae amgygdalae (TnA) and the area subpallialis amygdalae (SpA). Some of these subregions showed further subnuclei and each region of the arcopallium/amygdala complex are characterized by a distinct multi-receptor density expression. Here we provide a new detailed map of the pigeon's arcopallium/amygdala complex and compare the receptor architecture of the subregions to their possible mammalian counterparts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christina Herold
- C. and O. Vogt Institute of Brain Research, Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Christina Paulitschek
- C. and O. Vogt Institute of Brain Research, Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | | | - Onur Güntürkün
- Department of Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Karl Zilles
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine INM-1, Research Center Jülich, Jülich, Germany.,Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, RWTH Aachen University, and JARA - Translational Brain Medicine, Aachen, Germany
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49
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Tokarev K, Hyland Bruno J, Ljubičić I, Kothari PJ, Helekar SA, Tchernichovski O, Voss HU. Sexual dimorphism in striatal dopaminergic responses promotes monogamy in social songbirds. eLife 2017; 6:25819. [PMID: 28826502 PMCID: PMC5584986 DOI: 10.7554/elife.25819] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2017] [Accepted: 08/08/2017] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
In many songbird species, males sing to attract females and repel rivals. How can gregarious, non-territorial songbirds such as zebra finches, where females have access to numerous males, sustain monogamy? We found that the dopaminergic reward circuitry of zebra finches can simultaneously promote social cohesion and breeding boundaries. Surprisingly, in unmated males but not in females, striatal dopamine neurotransmission was elevated after hearing songs. Behaviorally too, unmated males but not females persistently exchanged mild punishments in return for songs. Song reinforcement diminished when dopamine receptors were blocked. In females, we observed song reinforcement exclusively to the mate’s song, although their striatal dopamine neurotransmission was only slightly elevated. These findings suggest that song-triggered dopaminergic activation serves a dual function in social songbirds: as low-threshold social reinforcement in males and as ultra-selective sexual reinforcement in females. Co-evolution of sexually dimorphic reinforcement systems can explain the coexistence of gregariousness and monogamy. While monogamy is rare within the animal kingdom, some species – including humans and many birds – can be highly social and yet sustain monogamous relationships. Zebra finches, for example, are among a number of species of songbirds in which numerous males and females live closely together but maintain monogamous partnerships. Male songbirds use their songs to attract females, who do not themselves sing. But if female birds are attracted to any male song, how do they manage to remain monogamous when surrounded by potential suitors? In songbirds, and in humans too, a region of the brain called the striatum regulates both social and sexual behaviors. It does this by modulating the release of a molecule called dopamine, which is the brain’s reward signal. Tokarev et al. show that hearing songs triggers dopamine release within the striatum of unattached male zebra finches, but has no such effect in single females. Unattached male songbirds will also put up with irritating puffs of air in exchange for being able to watch videos of singing birds, whereas unattached females will not. Female songbirds with partners will tolerate the air puffs, but only if the videos are accompanied with the songs of their own mate. These findings suggest that song serves as a generic social stimulus for zebra finch males, helping large numbers of birds to live together. By contrast, for a female zebra finch, the song of her partner is a highly selective sexual stimulus. These sex-specific responses to the same socially-relevant stimuli may explain how gregarious animals are able to maintain monogamous pair bonds. More generally, these results are a step towards understanding how brain reward systems regulate social interactions. Studying these mechanisms in songbird species with different social and mating systems could ultimately provide insights into social and sexual behavior in people.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kirill Tokarev
- Department of Psychology, Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, United States.,Department of Radiology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, United States
| | - Julia Hyland Bruno
- Department of Psychology, Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, United States.,Department of Psychology, Graduate Center of the City University of New York, New York, United States
| | - Iva Ljubičić
- Department of Psychology, Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, United States.,Department of Biology, Graduate Center of the City University of New York, New York, United States
| | - Paresh J Kothari
- Department of Radiology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, United States
| | - Santosh A Helekar
- Department of Neurology, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, United States
| | - Ofer Tchernichovski
- Department of Psychology, Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, United States.,Department of Psychology, Graduate Center of the City University of New York, New York, United States.,Department of Biology, Graduate Center of the City University of New York, New York, United States
| | - Henning U Voss
- Department of Radiology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, United States
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50
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Kosubek-Langer J, Schulze L, Scharff C. Maturation, Behavioral Activation, and Connectivity of Adult-Born Medium Spiny Neurons in a Striatal Song Nucleus. Front Neurosci 2017. [PMID: 28638318 PMCID: PMC5461290 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2017.00323] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Neurogenesis continues in the adult songbird brain. Many telencephalic song control regions incorporate new neurons into their existing circuits in adulthood. One song nucleus that receives many new neurons is Area X. Because this striatal region is crucial for song learning and song maintenance the recruitment of new neurons into Area X could influence these processes. As an entry point into addressing this possibility, we investigated the maturation and connectivity within the song circuit and behavioral activation of newly generated Area X neurons. Using BrdU birth dating and virally mediated GFP expression we followed adult-generated neurons from their place of birth in the ventricle to their place of incorporation into Area X. We show that newborn neurons receive glutamatergic input from pallial/cortical song nuclei. Additionally, backfills revealed that the new neurons connect to pallidal-like projection neurons that innervate the thalamus. Using in situ hybridization, we found that new neurons express the mRNA for D1- and D2-type dopamine receptors. Employing DARPP-32 (dopamine and cAMP-regulated phosphoprotein of 32 kDa) and EGR-1 (early growth response protein 1) as markers for neural maturation and activation, we established that at 42 days after labeling approximately 80% of new neurons were mature medium spiny neurons (MSNs) and could be activated by singing behavior. Finally, we compared the MSN density in Area X of birds up to seven years of age and found a significant increase with age, indicating that new neurons are constantly added to the nucleus. In summary, we provide evidence that newborn MSNs in Area X constantly functionally integrate into the circuit and are thus likely to play a role in the maintenance and regulation of adult song.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Lydia Schulze
- Animal Behavior, Freie Universität BerlinBerlin, Germany
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