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Moseley SM, Meliza CD. Cortical Processing of Conspecific Vocalizations in Zebra Finches Depends on the Early Acoustical Environment. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.06.25.600670. [PMID: 38979160 PMCID: PMC11230381 DOI: 10.1101/2024.06.25.600670] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/10/2024]
Abstract
Sensory experience during development has lasting effects on perception and neural processing. Exposing animals to artificial stimuli early in life influences the tuning and functional organization of the auditory cortex, but less is known about how the rich acoustical environments experienced by vocal communicators affect the processing of complex vocalizations. Here, we show that in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata), a colonial-breeding songbird species, exposure to a naturalistic social-acoustical environment during development has a profound impact on cortical-level auditory responses to conspecific song. Compared to birds raised by pairs in acoustic isolation, birds raised in a breeding colony had higher average firing rates, selectivity, and discriminability, especially in the narrow-spiking, putatively inhibitory neurons of a higher-order auditory area, the caudomedial nidopallium (NCM). Neurons in colony-reared birds were also less correlated in their tuning and more efficient at encoding the spectrotemporal structure of conspecific song. These results suggest that the auditory cortex adapts to noisy, complex acoustical environments by strengthening inhibitory circuitry, functionally decoupling excitatory neurons while maintaining overall excitatory-inhibitory balance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samantha M Moseley
- Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville VA 22904, USA
| | - C Daniel Meliza
- Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville VA 22904, USA
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Virginia, Charlottesville VA 22904, USA
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2
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Steinemer A, Simon A, Güntürkün O, Rook N. Parallel executive pallio-motor loops in the pigeon brain. J Comp Neurol 2024; 532:e25611. [PMID: 38625816 DOI: 10.1002/cne.25611] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2023] [Revised: 03/08/2024] [Accepted: 03/24/2024] [Indexed: 04/18/2024]
Abstract
A core component of the avian pallial cognitive network is the multimodal nidopallium caudolaterale (NCL) that is considered to be analogous to the mammalian prefrontal cortex (PFC). The NCL plays a key role in a multitude of executive tasks such as working memory, decision-making during navigation, and extinction learning in complex learning environments. Like the PFC, the NCL is positioned at the transition from ascending sensory to descending motor systems. For the latter, it sends descending premotor projections to the intermediate arcopallium (AI) and the medial striatum (MSt). To gain detailed insight into the organization of these projections, we conducted several retrograde and anterograde tracing experiments. First, we tested whether NCL neurons projecting to AI (NCLarco neurons) and MSt (NCLMSt neurons) are constituted by a single neuronal population with bifurcating neurons, or whether they form two distinct populations. Here, we found two distinct projection patterns to both target areas that were associated with different morphologies. Second, we revealed a weak topographic projection toward the medial and lateral striatum and a strong topographic projection toward AI with clearly distinguishable sensory termination fields. Third, we investigated the relationship between the descending NCL pathways to the arcopallium with those from the hyperpallium apicale, which harbors a second major descending pathway of the avian pallium. We embed our findings within a system of parallel pallio-motor loops that carry information from separate sensory modalities to different subpallial systems. Our results also provide insights into the evolution of the avian motor system from which, possibly, the song system has emerged.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alina Steinemer
- Department of Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Annika Simon
- Department of Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Onur Güntürkün
- Department of Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Noemi Rook
- Department of Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
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3
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Güntürkün O, Pusch R, Rose J. Why birds are smart. Trends Cogn Sci 2024; 28:197-209. [PMID: 38097447 PMCID: PMC10940863 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2023.11.002] [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: 08/31/2023] [Revised: 11/12/2023] [Accepted: 11/13/2023] [Indexed: 03/08/2024]
Abstract
Many cognitive neuroscientists believe that both a large brain and an isocortex are crucial for complex cognition. Yet corvids and parrots possess non-cortical brains of just 1-25 g, and these birds exhibit cognitive abilities comparable with those of great apes such as chimpanzees, which have brains of about 400 g. This opinion explores how this cognitive equivalence is possible. We propose four features that may be required for complex cognition: a large number of associative pallial neurons, a prefrontal cortex (PFC)-like area, a dense dopaminergic innervation of association areas, and dynamic neurophysiological fundaments for working memory. These four neural features have convergently evolved and may therefore represent 'hard to replace' mechanisms enabling complex cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Onur Güntürkün
- Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, 44780 Bochum, Germany; Research Center One Health Ruhr, Research Alliance Ruhr, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
| | - Roland Pusch
- Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, 44780 Bochum, Germany
| | - Jonas Rose
- Neural Basis of Learning, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, 44780 Bochum, Germany
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4
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Wood JN, Wood SMW. The Development of Object Recognition Requires Experience with the Surface Features of Objects. Animals (Basel) 2024; 14:284. [PMID: 38254453 PMCID: PMC10812816 DOI: 10.3390/ani14020284] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2023] [Revised: 12/16/2023] [Accepted: 12/28/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
What role does visual experience play in the development of object recognition? Prior controlled-rearing studies suggest that newborn animals require slow and smooth visual experiences to develop object recognition. Here, we examined whether the development of object recognition also requires experience with the surface features of objects. We raised newborn chicks in automated controlled-rearing chambers that contained a single virtual object, then tested their ability to recognize that object from familiar and novel viewpoints. When chicks were reared with an object that had surface features, the chicks developed view-invariant object recognition. In contrast, when chicks were reared with a line drawing of an object, the chicks failed to develop object recognition. The chicks reared with line drawings performed at chance level, despite acquiring over 100 h of visual experience with the object. These results indicate that the development of object recognition requires experience with the surface features of objects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justin Newell Wood
- Departments of Informatics, Cognitive Science, Neuroscience, Center for Integrated Study of Animal Behavior, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47408, USA
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5
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Nieder A. Convergent Circuit Computation for Categorization in the Brains of Primates and Songbirds. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 2023; 15:a041526. [PMID: 38040453 PMCID: PMC10691494 DOI: 10.1101/cshperspect.a041526] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/03/2023]
Abstract
Categorization is crucial for behavioral flexibility because it enables animals to group stimuli into meaningful classes that can easily be generalized to new circumstances. A most abstract quantitative category is set size, the number of elements in a set. This review explores how categorical number representations are realized by the operations of excitatory and inhibitory neurons in associative telencephalic microcircuits in primates and songbirds. Despite the independent evolution of the primate prefrontal cortex and the avian nidopallium caudolaterale, the neuronal computations of these associative pallial circuits show surprising correspondence. Comparing cellular functions in distantly related taxa can inform about the evolutionary principles of circuit computations for cognition in distinctly but convergently realized brain structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Nieder
- Animal Physiology Unit, Institute of Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
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6
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Dura-Bernal S, Griffith EY, Barczak A, O'Connell MN, McGinnis T, Moreira JVS, Schroeder CE, Lytton WW, Lakatos P, Neymotin SA. Data-driven multiscale model of macaque auditory thalamocortical circuits reproduces in vivo dynamics. Cell Rep 2023; 42:113378. [PMID: 37925640 PMCID: PMC10727489 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.113378] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2022] [Revised: 09/05/2023] [Accepted: 10/19/2023] [Indexed: 11/07/2023] Open
Abstract
We developed a detailed model of macaque auditory thalamocortical circuits, including primary auditory cortex (A1), medial geniculate body (MGB), and thalamic reticular nucleus, utilizing the NEURON simulator and NetPyNE tool. The A1 model simulates a cortical column with over 12,000 neurons and 25 million synapses, incorporating data on cell-type-specific neuron densities, morphology, and connectivity across six cortical layers. It is reciprocally connected to the MGB thalamus, which includes interneurons and core and matrix-layer-specific projections to A1. The model simulates multiscale measures, including physiological firing rates, local field potentials (LFPs), current source densities (CSDs), and electroencephalography (EEG) signals. Laminar CSD patterns, during spontaneous activity and in response to broadband noise stimulus trains, mirror experimental findings. Physiological oscillations emerge spontaneously across frequency bands comparable to those recorded in vivo. We elucidate population-specific contributions to observed oscillation events and relate them to firing and presynaptic input patterns. The model offers a quantitative theoretical framework to integrate and interpret experimental data and predict its underlying cellular and circuit mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Salvador Dura-Bernal
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Health Sciences University, Brooklyn, NY, USA; Center for Biomedical Imaging and Neuromodulation, Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, USA.
| | - Erica Y Griffith
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Health Sciences University, Brooklyn, NY, USA; Center for Biomedical Imaging and Neuromodulation, Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, USA.
| | - Annamaria Barczak
- Center for Biomedical Imaging and Neuromodulation, Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, USA
| | - Monica N O'Connell
- Center for Biomedical Imaging and Neuromodulation, Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, USA
| | - Tammy McGinnis
- Center for Biomedical Imaging and Neuromodulation, Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, USA
| | - Joao V S Moreira
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Health Sciences University, Brooklyn, NY, USA
| | - Charles E Schroeder
- Center for Biomedical Imaging and Neuromodulation, Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, USA; Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - William W Lytton
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Health Sciences University, Brooklyn, NY, USA; Kings County Hospital Center, Brooklyn, NY, USA
| | - Peter Lakatos
- Center for Biomedical Imaging and Neuromodulation, Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, USA; Department Psychiatry, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Samuel A Neymotin
- Center for Biomedical Imaging and Neuromodulation, Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, USA; Department Psychiatry, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
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7
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Furest Cataldo B, Yang L, Cabezas B, Ovetsky J, Vicario DS. Novel sound exposure drives dynamic changes in auditory lateralization that are associated with perceptual learning in zebra finches. Commun Biol 2023; 6:1205. [PMID: 38012325 PMCID: PMC10681987 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-05567-7] [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: 05/17/2023] [Accepted: 11/09/2023] [Indexed: 11/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Songbirds provide a model for adult plasticity in the auditory cortex as a function of recent experience due to parallels with human auditory processing. As for speech processing in humans, activity in songbirds' higher auditory cortex (caudomedial nidopallium, NCM) is lateralized for complex vocalization sounds. However, in Zebra finches exposed to a novel heterospecific (canary) acoustic environment for 4-9 days, the typical pattern of right-lateralization is reversed. We now report that, in birds passively exposed to a novel heterospecific environment for extended periods (up to 21 days), the right-lateralized pattern of epidural auditory potentials first reverses transiently then returns to the typical pattern. Using acute, bilateral multi-unit electrophysiology, we confirm that this dynamic pattern occurs in NCM. Furthermore, extended exposure enhances discrimination for heterospecific stimuli. We conclude that lateralization is functionally labile and, when engaged by novel sensory experience, contributes to discrimination of novel stimuli that may be ethologically relevant. Future studies seek to determine whether, (1) the dynamicity of lateralized processes engaged by novel sensory experiences recurs with every novel challenge in the same organism; (2) the dynamic pattern extends to other cortical, thalamic or midbrain structures; and (3) the phenomenon generalizes across sensory modalities.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Lillian Yang
- The City College of New York (CUNY), Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience Department, New York, NY, 10031, USA
| | - Bryan Cabezas
- Rutgers University, Department of Psychology, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA
| | - Jonathan Ovetsky
- Rutgers University, Department of Psychology, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA
| | - David S Vicario
- Rutgers University, Department of Psychology, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA.
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8
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Lu S, Ang GW, Steadman M, Kozlov AS. Composite receptive fields in the mouse auditory cortex. J Physiol 2023; 601:4091-4104. [PMID: 37578817 PMCID: PMC10952747 DOI: 10.1113/jp285003] [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: 05/11/2023] [Accepted: 07/12/2023] [Indexed: 08/15/2023] Open
Abstract
A central question in sensory neuroscience is how neurons represent complex natural stimuli. This process involves multiple steps of feature extraction to obtain a condensed, categorical representation useful for classification and behaviour. It has previously been shown that central auditory neurons in the starling have composite receptive fields composed of multiple features. Whether this property is an idiosyncratic characteristic of songbirds, a group of highly specialized vocal learners or a generic property of sensory processing is unknown. To address this question, we have recorded responses from auditory cortical neurons in mice, and characterized their receptive fields using mouse ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) as a natural and ethologically relevant stimulus and pitch-shifted starling songs as a natural but ethologically irrelevant control stimulus. We have found that these neurons display composite receptive fields with multiple excitatory and inhibitory subunits. Moreover, this was the case with either the conspecific or the heterospecific vocalizations. We then trained the sparse filtering algorithm on both classes of natural stimuli to obtain statistically optimal features, and compared the natural and artificial features using UMAP, a dimensionality-reduction algorithm previously used to analyse mouse USVs and birdsongs. We have found that the receptive-field features obtained with both types of the natural stimuli clustered together, as did the sparse-filtering features. However, the natural and artificial receptive-field features clustered mostly separately. Based on these results, our general conclusion is that composite receptive fields are not a unique characteristic of specialized vocal learners but are likely a generic property of central auditory systems. KEY POINTS: Auditory cortical neurons in the mouse have composite receptive fields with several excitatory and inhibitory features. Receptive-field features capture temporal and spectral modulations of natural stimuli. Ethological relevance of the stimulus affects the estimation of receptive-field dimensionality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sihao Lu
- Department of BioengineeringImperial College LondonLondonUK
| | - Grace W.Y. Ang
- Department of BioengineeringImperial College LondonLondonUK
| | - Mark Steadman
- Department of BioengineeringImperial College LondonLondonUK
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9
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Reiner A. Could theropod dinosaurs have evolved to a human level of intelligence? J Comp Neurol 2023; 531:975-1006. [PMID: 37029483 PMCID: PMC10106414 DOI: 10.1002/cne.25458] [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: 08/09/2022] [Revised: 01/05/2023] [Accepted: 01/11/2023] [Indexed: 04/09/2023]
Abstract
Noting that some theropod dinosaurs had large brains, large grasping hands, and likely binocular vision, paleontologist Dale Russell suggested that a branch of these dinosaurs might have evolved to a human intelligence level, had dinosaurs not become extinct. I offer reasons why the likely pallial organization in dinosaurs would have made this improbable, based on four assumptions. First, it is assumed that achieving human intelligence requires evolving an equivalent of the about 200 functionally specialized cortical areas characteristic of humans. Second, it is assumed that dinosaurs had an avian nuclear type of pallial organization, in contrast to the mammalian cortical organization. Third, it is assumed that the interactions between the different neuron types making up an information processing unit within pallium are critical to its role in analyzing information. Finally, it is assumed that increasing axonal length between the neuron sets carrying out this operation impairs its efficacy. Based on these assumptions, I present two main reasons why dinosaur pallium might have been unable to add the equivalent of 200 efficiently functioning cortical areas. First, a nuclear pattern of pallial organization would require increasing distances between the neuron groups corresponding to the separate layers of any given mammalian cortical area, as more sets of nuclei equivalent to a cortical area are interposed between the existing sets, increasing axon length and thereby impairing processing efficiency. Second, because of its nuclear organization, dinosaur pallium could not reduce axon length by folding to bring adjacent areas closer together, as occurs in cerebral cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anton Reiner
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, Tennessee, USA
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10
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Robotka H, Thomas L, Yu K, Wood W, Elie JE, Gahr M, Theunissen FE. Sparse ensemble neural code for a complete vocal repertoire. Cell Rep 2023; 42:112034. [PMID: 36696266 PMCID: PMC10363576 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112034] [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: 02/22/2022] [Revised: 08/08/2022] [Accepted: 01/09/2023] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
The categorization of animal vocalizations into distinct behaviorally relevant groups for communication is an essential operation that must be performed by the auditory system. This auditory object recognition is a difficult task that requires selectivity to the group identifying acoustic features and invariance to renditions within each group. We find that small ensembles of auditory neurons in the forebrain of a social songbird can code the bird's entire vocal repertoire (∼10 call types). Ensemble neural discrimination is not, however, correlated with single unit selectivity, but instead with how well the joint single unit tunings to characteristic spectro-temporal modulations span the acoustic subspace optimized for the discrimination of call types. Thus, akin to face recognition in the visual system, call type recognition in the auditory system is based on a sparse code representing a small number of high-level features and not on highly selective grandmother neurons.
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Affiliation(s)
- H Robotka
- Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany
| | - L Thomas
- University of California, Berkeley, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - K Yu
- University of California, Berkeley, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - W Wood
- University of California, Berkeley, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - J E Elie
- University of California, Berkeley, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - M Gahr
- Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany
| | - F E Theunissen
- Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany; University of California, Berkeley, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, Berkeley, CA, USA; Department of Psychology and Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
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11
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Chen WG, Iversen JR, Kao MH, Loui P, Patel AD, Zatorre RJ, Edwards E. Music and Brain Circuitry: Strategies for Strengthening Evidence-Based Research for Music-Based Interventions. J Neurosci 2022; 42:8498-8507. [PMID: 36351825 PMCID: PMC9665917 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1135-22.2022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2022] [Revised: 09/07/2022] [Accepted: 09/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The neuroscience of music and music-based interventions (MBIs) is a fascinating but challenging research field. While music is a ubiquitous component of every human society, MBIs may encompass listening to music, performing music, music-based movement, undergoing music education and training, or receiving treatment from music therapists. Unraveling the brain circuits activated and influenced by MBIs may help us gain better understanding of the therapeutic and educational values of MBIs by gathering strong research evidence. However, the complexity and variety of MBIs impose unique research challenges. This article reviews the recent endeavor led by the National Institutes of Health to support evidence-based research of MBIs and their impact on health and diseases. It also highlights fundamental challenges and strategies of MBI research with emphases on the utilization of animal models, human brain imaging and stimulation technologies, behavior and motion capturing tools, and computational approaches. It concludes with suggestions of basic requirements when studying MBIs and promising future directions to further strengthen evidence-based research on MBIs in connections with brain circuitry.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Music and music-based interventions (MBI) engage a wide range of brain circuits and hold promising therapeutic potentials for a variety of health conditions. Comparative studies using animal models have helped in uncovering brain circuit activities involved in rhythm perception, while human imaging, brain stimulation, and motion capture technologies have enabled neural circuit analysis underlying the effects of MBIs on motor, affective/reward, and cognitive function. Combining computational analysis, such as prediction method, with mechanistic studies in animal models and humans may unravel the complexity of MBIs and their effects on health and disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wen Grace Chen
- Division of Extramural Research, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892
| | | | - Mimi H Kao
- Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155
| | - Psyche Loui
- Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115
| | | | - Robert J Zatorre
- Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A2B4, Canada
| | - Emmeline Edwards
- Division of Extramural Research, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892
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12
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Bloomston NA, Zaharas K, Lawley K, Fenn T, Person E, Huber H, Zhang Z, Prather JF. Exploring links from sensory perception to movement and behavioral motivation in the caudal nidopallium of female songbirds. J Comp Neurol 2022; 530:1622-1633. [PMID: 35073426 PMCID: PMC9119909 DOI: 10.1002/cne.25305] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2021] [Revised: 01/12/2022] [Accepted: 01/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Decision making resides at the interface between sensory perception and movement production. Female songbirds in the context of mate choice are an excellent system to define neural circuits through which sensory perception influences production of courtship behaviors. Previous experiments by our group and others have implicated secondary auditory brain sites, including the caudal nidopallium (NC), in mediating behavioral indicators of mate choice. Here, we used anterograde tracer molecules to define projections that emerge from NC in female songbirds, identifying pathways through which NC influences downstream sites implicated in signal processing and decision making. Our results reveal that NC sends projections into the arcopallium, including the ventral intermediate arcopallium (AIV). Previous work revealed that AIV also receives input from another auditory area implicated in song preference and mate choice (caudal mesopallium, CM), suggesting that convergent input from multiple auditory areas may play important roles in initiating mate choice behaviors. In the present results, NC projects to an area implicated in postural and locomotory control (dorsal arcopallium, Ad), suggesting that NC may play a role in directing those forms of copulatory behavior. NC projections also systematically avoid a vocal motor region of the arcopallium that is innervated by CM (robust nucleus of the arcopallium). These results suggest a model in which both NC and CM project to arcopallial pathways implicated in behavioral motivation. These brain regions may exert different influences on pathways through which auditory information can direct different facets of behavioral responses to information detected in those auditory signals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalie A Bloomston
- Neuroscience Program, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
| | - Kristina Zaharas
- Neuroscience Program, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
| | - Koedi Lawley
- Neuroscience Program, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
| | - Thomas Fenn
- Neuroscience Program, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
| | - Emily Person
- Neuroscience Program, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
| | - Holly Huber
- Neuroscience Program, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
| | - Zhaojie Zhang
- Neuroscience Program, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
| | - Jonathan F Prather
- Neuroscience Program, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
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13
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Xiong Y, Xu G, Chen M, Ma H. Intestinal Uptake and Tolerance to Food Antigens. Front Immunol 2022; 13:906122. [PMID: 35757706 PMCID: PMC9226482 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.906122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2022] [Accepted: 05/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Food allergy is a growing concern due to its increasing world-wide incidence. Strict avoidance of allergens is a passive treatment strategy. Since the mechanisms responsible for the occurrence and development of food allergy have not yet been fully elucidated, effective individualized treatment options are lacking. In this review, we summarize the pathways through which food antigens enter the intestine and review the proposed mechanisms describing how the intestine acquires and tolerates food antigens. When oral tolerance is not established, food allergy occurs. In addition, we also discuss the contribution of commensal bacteria of the gut in shaping tolerance to food antigens in the intestinal tract. Finally, we propose that elucidating the mechanisms of intestinal uptake and tolerance of food antigens will provide additional clues for potential treatment options for food allergy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuhong Xiong
- Department of Pediatrics, The First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.,Institute of Immunology, The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Key Laboratory of Innate Immunity and Chronic Disease, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Guifeng Xu
- Department of Pediatrics, The First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Mingwu Chen
- Department of Pediatrics, The First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Hongdi Ma
- Department of Pediatrics, The First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.,Institute of Immunology, The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Key Laboratory of Innate Immunity and Chronic Disease, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
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14
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Colquitt BM. Organizational Conservation and Flexibility in the Evolution of Birdsong and Avian Motor Control. BRAIN, BEHAVIOR AND EVOLUTION 2022; 97:255-264. [PMID: 35644127 DOI: 10.1159/000525019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2022] [Accepted: 05/05/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Birds and mammals have independently evolved complex behavioral and cognitive capabilities yet have markedly different brain structures. An open question is to what extent, despite these differences in anatomy, birds and mammals have evolved similar neural solutions to complex motor control and at what level of organization these similarities might lie. Courtship song in songbirds, a learned motor skill that is similar to the fine motor skills of many mammals including human speech, provides a powerful system in which to study the links connecting the development and evolution of cells, circuits, and behavior. Until recently, obtaining cellular-resolution views of the specialized neural circuitry that subserves birdsong was impossible due to a lack of molecular tools for songbirds. However, the ongoing revolution in cellular profiling and genomics offers unprecedented opportunities for molecular analysis in organisms that lack a traditional genetic infrastructure but have tractable, well-defined behaviors. Here, I describe recent efforts to understand the evolutionary relationships between birdsong control circuitry and mammalian neocortical circuitry using new approaches to measure gene expression in single cells. These results, combined with foundational work relating avian and mammalian brains at a range of biological levels, present an emerging view that amniote pallium evolution is a story of diverse neural circuit architectures employing conserved neuronal elements within a conserved topological framework. This view suggests that one locus of pallial neural circuit evolution lies at the intersection between the gene regulatory programs that regulate regional patterning and those that specify functional identity. Modifications to this intersection may underlie the evolution of pallial motor control in birds in general and to the evolutionary and developmental relationships of these circuits to the avian pallial amygdala.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bradley M Colquitt
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, Maryland, USA
- Department of Physiology, University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA
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15
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Schluessel V, Kreuter N, Gosemann IM, Schmidt E. Cichlids and stingrays can add and subtract 'one' in the number space from one to five. Sci Rep 2022; 12:3894. [PMID: 35361791 PMCID: PMC8971382 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-07552-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2021] [Accepted: 02/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
The numerical understanding of cichlids and stingrays was examined regarding addition and subtraction abilities within the number space of one to five. Experiments were conducted as two-alternative forced-choice experiments, using a delayed matching to sample technique. On each trial, fish had to perform either an addition or subtraction, based on the presentation of two-dimensional objects in two distinct colors, with the color signaling a particular arithmetic process. Six cichlids and four stingrays successfully completed training and recognized specific colors as symbols for addition and subtraction. Cichlids needed more sessions than stingrays to reach the learning criterion. Transfer tests showed that learning was independent of straightforward symbol memorization. Individuals did not just learn to pick the highest or lowest number presented based on the respective color; instead, learning was specific to adding or subtracting ‘one’. Although group results were significant for both species in all tests, individual results varied. Addition was learned more easily than subtraction by both species. While cichlids learned faster than stingrays, and more cichlids than stingrays learned the task, individual performance of stingrays exceeded that of cichlids. Previous studies have provided ample evidence that fish have numerical abilities on par with those of other vertebrate and invertebrate species tested, a result that is further supported by the findings of the current study.
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Affiliation(s)
- V Schluessel
- Institute of Zoology, University of Bonn, Meckenheimer Allee 169, Poppelsdorfer Schloss, 53115, Bonn, Germany.
| | - N Kreuter
- Institute of Zoology, University of Bonn, Meckenheimer Allee 169, Poppelsdorfer Schloss, 53115, Bonn, Germany
| | - I M Gosemann
- Institute of Zoology, University of Bonn, Meckenheimer Allee 169, Poppelsdorfer Schloss, 53115, Bonn, Germany
| | - E Schmidt
- Institute of Zoology, University of Bonn, Meckenheimer Allee 169, Poppelsdorfer Schloss, 53115, Bonn, Germany
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16
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Cell-type specific pallial circuits shape categorical tuning responses in the crow telencephalon. Commun Biol 2022; 5:269. [PMID: 35338240 PMCID: PMC8956685 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-03208-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2021] [Accepted: 02/28/2022] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
The nidopallium caudolaterale (NCL), an integration centre in the telencephalon of birds, plays a crucial role in representing and maintaining abstract categories and concepts. However, the computational principles allowing pallial microcircuits consisting of excitatory and inhibitory neurons to shape the tuning to abstract categories remain elusive. Here we identified the major pallial cell types, putative excitatory projection cells and inhibitory interneurons, by characterizing the waveforms of action potentials recorded in crows performing a cognitively demanding numerical categorization task. Both cell types showed clear differences in their capacity to encode categorical information. Nearby and functionally coupled putative projection neurons generally exhibited similar tuning, whereas putative interneurons showed mainly opposite tuning. The results favour feedforward mechanisms for the shaping of categorical tuning in microcircuits of the NCL. Our findings help to decipher the workings of pallial microcircuits in birds during complex cognition and to compare them vis-a-vis neocortical processes in mammals. Neural recordings from the caudolateral nidopallium in crows during a numerosity task suggest there are two subsets of projection neurons and inhibitory interneurons involved in complex cognition.
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17
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Braga A, Schönwiesner M. Neural Substrates and Models of Omission Responses and Predictive Processes. Front Neural Circuits 2022; 16:799581. [PMID: 35177967 PMCID: PMC8844463 DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2022.799581] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2021] [Accepted: 01/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Predictive coding theories argue that deviance detection phenomena, such as mismatch responses and omission responses, are generated by predictive processes with possibly overlapping neural substrates. Molecular imaging and electrophysiology studies of mismatch responses and corollary discharge in the rodent model allowed the development of mechanistic and computational models of these phenomena. These models enable translation between human and non-human animal research and help to uncover fundamental features of change-processing microcircuitry in the neocortex. This microcircuitry is characterized by stimulus-specific adaptation and feedforward inhibition of stimulus-selective populations of pyramidal neurons and interneurons, with specific contributions from different interneuron types. The overlap of the substrates of different types of responses to deviant stimuli remains to be understood. Omission responses, which are observed both in corollary discharge and mismatch response protocols in humans, are underutilized in animal research and may be pivotal in uncovering the substrates of predictive processes. Omission studies comprise a range of methods centered on the withholding of an expected stimulus. This review aims to provide an overview of omission protocols and showcase their potential to integrate and complement the different models and procedures employed to study prediction and deviance detection.This approach may reveal the biological foundations of core concepts of predictive coding, and allow an empirical test of the framework's promise to unify theoretical models of attention and perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Braga
- Institute of Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
- International Max Plank Research School, Max Plank Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Marc Schönwiesner
- Institute of Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
- International Laboratory for Research on Brain, Music, and Sound (BRAMS), Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
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18
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Parameshwarappa V, Pezard L, Norena AJ. Changes in the spatiotemporal pattern of spontaneous activity across a cortical column after noise trauma. J Neurophysiol 2021; 127:239-254. [PMID: 34936500 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00262.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
In the auditory modality, noise trauma has often been used to investigate cortical plasticity as it causes cochlear hearing loss. One limitation of these past studies, however, is that the effects of noise trauma have been mostly documented at the granular layer, which is the main cortical recipient of thalamic inputs. Importantly, the cortex is composed of six different layers each having its own pattern of connectivity and specific role in sensory processing. The present study aims at investigating the effects of acute and chronic noise trauma on the laminar pattern of spontaneous activity in primary auditory cortex of the anesthetized guinea pig. We show that spontaneous activity is dramatically altered across cortical layers after acute and chronic noise-induced hearing loss. First, spontaneous activity was globally enhanced across cortical layers, both in terms of firing rate and amplitude of spike-triggered average of local field potentials. Second, current source density on (spontaneous) spike-triggered average of local field potentials indicates that current sinks develop in the supra- and infragranular layers. These latter results suggest that supragranular layers become a major input recipient and that the propagation of spontaneous activity over a cortical column is greatly enhanced after acute and chronic noise-induced hearing loss. We discuss the possible mechanisms and functional implications of these changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vinay Parameshwarappa
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France
| | - Laurent Pezard
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France
| | - Arnaud Jean Norena
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France
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19
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Barsotti E, Correia A, Cardona A. Neural architectures in the light of comparative connectomics. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2021; 71:139-149. [PMID: 34837731 PMCID: PMC8694100 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2021.10.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2021] [Revised: 10/20/2021] [Accepted: 10/26/2021] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Since the Cambrian, animals diversified from a few body forms or bauplans, into many extinct and all extant species. A characteristic neural architecture serves each bauplan. How the connectome of each animal differs from that of closely related species or whether it converged into an optimal architecture shared with more distant ones is unknown. Recent technological innovations in molecular biology, microscopy, digital data storage and processing, and computational neuroscience have lowered the barriers for whole-brain connectomics. Comparative connectomics of suitable, relatively small, representative species across the phylogenetic tree can infer the archetypal neural architecture of each bauplan and identify any circuits that possibly converged onto a shared and potentially optimal, structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth Barsotti
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK; Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, UK
| | - Ana Correia
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK; Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, UK
| | - Albert Cardona
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK; Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, UK.
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20
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Sankar R, Rougier NP, Leblois A. Computational benefits of structural plasticity, illustrated in songbirds. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 132:1183-1196. [PMID: 34801257 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.10.033] [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: 06/16/2021] [Revised: 10/13/2021] [Accepted: 10/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The plasticity of nervous systems allows animals to quickly adapt to a changing environment. In particular, the structural plasticity of brain networks is often critical to the development of the central nervous system and the acquisition of complex behaviors. As an example, structural plasticity is central to the development of song-related brain circuits and may be critical for song acquisition in juvenile songbirds. Here, we review current evidences for structural plasticity and their significance from a computational point of view. We start by reviewing evidence for structural plasticity across species and categorizing them along the spatial axes as well as the along the time course during development. We introduce the vocal learning circuitry in zebra finches, as a useful example of structural plasticity, and use this specific case to explore the possible contributions of structural plasticity to computational models. Finally, we discuss current modeling studies incorporating structural plasticity and unexplored questions which are raised by such models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Remya Sankar
- Inria Bordeaux Sud-Ouest, Talence, France; Institut des Maladies Neurodégénératives, Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; Institut des Maladies Neurodégénératives, CNRS, UMR 5293, France; LaBRI, Université de Bordeaux, INP, CNRS, UMR 5800, Talence, France
| | - Nicolas P Rougier
- Inria Bordeaux Sud-Ouest, Talence, France; Institut des Maladies Neurodégénératives, Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; Institut des Maladies Neurodégénératives, CNRS, UMR 5293, France; LaBRI, Université de Bordeaux, INP, CNRS, UMR 5800, Talence, France
| | - Arthur Leblois
- Institut des Maladies Neurodégénératives, Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; Institut des Maladies Neurodégénératives, CNRS, UMR 5293, France.
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21
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Güntürkün O, von Eugen K, Packheiser J, Pusch R. Avian pallial circuits and cognition: A comparison to mammals. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2021; 71:29-36. [PMID: 34562800 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2021.08.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2021] [Revised: 08/23/2021] [Accepted: 08/25/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Cognitive functions are similar in birds and mammals. So, are therefore pallial cellular circuits and neuronal computations also alike? In search of answers, we move in from bird's pallial connectomes, to cortex-like sensory canonical circuits and connections, to forebrain micro-circuitries and finally to the avian "prefrontal" area. This voyage from macro- to micro-scale networks and areas reveals that both birds and mammals evolved similar neural and computational properties in either convergent or parallel manner, based upon circuitries inherited from common ancestry. Thus, these two vertebrate classes evolved separately within 315 million years with highly similar pallial architectures that produce comparable cognitive functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Onur Güntürkün
- Department of Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150, 44801, Bochum, Germany.
| | - Kaya von Eugen
- Department of Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150, 44801, Bochum, Germany
| | - Julian Packheiser
- Department of Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150, 44801, Bochum, Germany
| | - Roland Pusch
- Department of Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150, 44801, Bochum, Germany
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22
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Mallatt J, Feinberg TE. Multiple Routes to Animal Consciousness: Constrained Multiple Realizability Rather Than Modest Identity Theory. Front Psychol 2021; 12:732336. [PMID: 34630245 PMCID: PMC8497802 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.732336] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2021] [Accepted: 08/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The multiple realizability thesis (MRT) is an important philosophical and psychological concept. It says any mental state can be constructed by multiple realizability (MR), meaning in many distinct ways from different physical parts. The goal of our study is to find if the MRT applies to the mental state of consciousness among animals. Many things have been written about MRT but the ones most applicable to animal consciousness are by Shapiro in a 2004 book called The Mind Incarnate and by Polger and Shapiro in their 2016 work, The Multiple Realization Book. Standard, classical MRT has been around since 1967 and it says that a mental state can have very many different physical realizations, in a nearly unlimited manner. To the contrary, Shapiro's book reasoned that physical, physiological, and historical constraints force mental traits to evolve in just a few, limited directions, which is seen as convergent evolution of the associated neural traits in different animal lineages. This is his mental constraint thesis (MCT). We examined the evolution of consciousness in animals and found that it arose independently in just three animal clades-vertebrates, arthropods, and cephalopod mollusks-all of which share many consciousness-associated traits: elaborate sensory organs and brains, high capacity for memory, directed mobility, etc. These three constrained, convergently evolved routes to consciousness fit Shapiro's original MCT. More recently, Polger and Shapiro's book presented much the same thesis but changed its name from MCT to a "modest identity thesis." Furthermore, they argued against almost all the classically offered instances of MR in animal evolution, especially against the evidence of neural plasticity and the differently expanded cerebrums of mammals and birds. In contrast, we argue that some of these classical examples of MR are indeed valid and that Shapiro's original MCT correction of MRT is the better account of the evolution of consciousness in animal clades. And we still agree that constraints and convergence refute the standard, nearly unconstrained, MRT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jon Mallatt
- The University of Washington WWAMI Medical Education Program at The University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, United States
| | - Todd E Feinberg
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States
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23
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Fernández M, Reyes-Pinto R, Norambuena C, Sentis E, Mpodozis J. A canonical interlaminar circuit in the sensory dorsal ventricular ridge of birds: The anatomical organization of the trigeminal pallium. J Comp Neurol 2021; 529:3410-3428. [PMID: 34176123 DOI: 10.1002/cne.25201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2021] [Revised: 06/08/2021] [Accepted: 06/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
The dorsal ventricular ridge (DVR), which is the largest component of the avian pallium, contains discrete partitions receiving tectovisual, auditory, and trigeminal ascending projections. Recent studies have shown that the auditory and the tectovisual regions can be regarded as complexes composed of three highly interconnected layers: an internal senso-recipient one, an intermediate afferent/efferent one, and a more external re-entrant one. Cells located in homotopic positions in each of these layers are reciprocally linked by an interlaminar loop of axonal processes, forming columnar-like local circuits. Whether this type of organization also extends to the trigemino-recipient DVR is, at present, not known. This question is of interest, since afferents forming this sensory pathway, exceptional among amniotes, are not thalamic but rhombencephalic in origin. We investigated this question by placing minute injections of neural tracers into selected locations of vital slices of the chicken telencephalon. We found that neurons of the trigemino-recipient nucleus basorostralis pallii (Bas) establish reciprocal, columnar and homotopical projections with cells located in the overlying ventral mesopallium (MV). "Column-forming" axons originated in B and MV terminate also in the intermediate strip, the fronto-trigeminal nidopallium (NFT), in a restricted manner. We also found that the NFT and an internal partition of B originate substantial, coarse-topographic projections to the underlying portion of the lateral striatum. We conclude that all sensory areas of the DVR are organized according to a common neuroarchitectonic motif, which bears a striking resemblance to that of the radial/laminar intrinsic circuits of the sensory cortices of mammals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Máximo Fernández
- Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Rosana Reyes-Pinto
- Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Carolina Norambuena
- Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Elisa Sentis
- Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Jorge Mpodozis
- Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
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24
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Spool JA, Macedo-Lima M, Scarpa G, Morohashi Y, Yazaki-Sugiyama Y, Remage-Healey L. Genetically identified neurons in avian auditory pallium mirror core principles of their mammalian counterparts. Curr Biol 2021; 31:2831-2843.e6. [PMID: 33989528 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.04.039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2020] [Revised: 02/12/2021] [Accepted: 04/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
In vertebrates, advanced cognitive abilities are typically associated with the telencephalic pallium. In mammals, the pallium is a layered mixture of excitatory and inhibitory neuronal populations with distinct molecular, physiological, and network phenotypes. This cortical architecture is proposed to support efficient, high-level information processing. Comparative perspectives across vertebrates provide a lens to understand the common features of pallium that are important for advanced cognition. Studies in songbirds have established strikingly parallel features of neuronal types between mammalian and avian pallium. However, lack of genetic access to defined pallial cell types in non-mammalian vertebrates has hindered progress in resolving connections between molecular and physiological phenotypes. A definitive mapping of the physiology of pallial cells onto their molecular identities in birds is critical for understanding how synaptic and computational properties depend on underlying molecular phenotypes. Using viral tools to target excitatory versus inhibitory neurons in the zebra finch auditory association pallium (calmodulin-dependent kinase alpha [CaMKIIα] and glutamate decarboxylase 1 [GAD1] promoters, respectively), we systematically tested predictions derived from mammalian pallium. We identified two genetically distinct neuronal populations that exhibit profound physiological and computational similarities with mammalian excitatory and inhibitory pallial cells, definitively aligning putative cell types in avian caudal nidopallium with these molecular identities. Specifically, genetically identified CaMKIIα and GAD1 cell types in avian auditory association pallium exhibit distinct intrinsic physiological parameters, distinct auditory coding principles, and inhibitory-dependent pallial synchrony, gamma oscillations, and local suppression. The retention, or convergence, of these molecular and physiological features in both birds and mammals clarifies the characteristics of pallial circuits for advanced cognitive abilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeremy A Spool
- Neuroscience and Behavior, Center for Neuroendocrine Studies, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
| | - Matheus Macedo-Lima
- Neuroscience and Behavior, Center for Neuroendocrine Studies, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA; CAPES Foundation, Ministry of Education of Brazil, Brasília 70040-020, Brazil
| | - Garrett Scarpa
- Neuroscience and Behavior, Center for Neuroendocrine Studies, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
| | - Yuichi Morohashi
- Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) Graduate University, Okinawa, Japan
| | - Yoko Yazaki-Sugiyama
- Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) Graduate University, Okinawa, Japan
| | - Luke Remage-Healey
- Neuroscience and Behavior, Center for Neuroendocrine Studies, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA.
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25
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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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26
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Fehrman C, Robbins TD, Meliza CD. Nonlinear effects of intrinsic dynamics on temporal encoding in a model of avian auditory cortex. PLoS Comput Biol 2021; 17:e1008768. [PMID: 33617539 PMCID: PMC7932506 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008768] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2020] [Revised: 03/04/2021] [Accepted: 02/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Neurons exhibit diverse intrinsic dynamics, which govern how they integrate synaptic inputs to produce spikes. Intrinsic dynamics are often plastic during development and learning, but the effects of these changes on stimulus encoding properties are not well known. To examine this relationship, we simulated auditory responses to zebra finch song using a linear-dynamical cascade model, which combines a linear spectrotemporal receptive field with a dynamical, conductance-based neuron model, then used generalized linear models to estimate encoding properties from the resulting spike trains. We focused on the effects of a low-threshold potassium current (KLT) that is present in a subset of cells in the zebra finch caudal mesopallium and is affected by early auditory experience. We found that KLT affects both spike adaptation and the temporal filtering properties of the receptive field. The direction of the effects depended on the temporal modulation tuning of the linear (input) stage of the cascade model, indicating a strongly nonlinear relationship. These results suggest that small changes in intrinsic dynamics in tandem with differences in synaptic connectivity can have dramatic effects on the tuning of auditory neurons. Experience-dependent developmental plasticity involves changes not only to synaptic connections, but to voltage-gated currents as well. Using biophysical models, it is straightforward to predict the effects of this intrinsic plasticity on the firing patterns of individual neurons, but it remains difficult to understand the consequences for sensory coding. We investigated this in the context of the zebra finch auditory cortex, where early exposure to a complex acoustic environment causes increased expression of a low-threshold potassium current. We simulated responses to song using a detailed biophysical model and then characterized encoding properties using generalized linear models. This analysis revealed that this potassium current has strong, nonlinear effects on how the model encodes the song’s temporal structure, and that the sign of these effects depend on the temporal tuning of the synaptic inputs. This nonlinearity gives intrinsic plasticity broad scope as a mechanism for developmental learning in the auditory system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christof Fehrman
- Psychology Department, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America
| | - Tyler D. Robbins
- Cognitive Science Program, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America
| | - C. Daniel Meliza
- Psychology Department, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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Rook N, Tuff JM, Isparta S, Masseck OA, Herlitze S, Güntürkün O, Pusch R. AAV1 is the optimal viral vector for optogenetic experiments in pigeons (Columba livia). Commun Biol 2021; 4:100. [PMID: 33483632 PMCID: PMC7822860 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-020-01595-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2020] [Accepted: 11/13/2020] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Although optogenetics has revolutionized rodent neuroscience, it is still rarely used in other model organisms as the efficiencies of viral gene transfer differ between species and comprehensive viral transduction studies are rare. However, for comparative research, birds offer valuable model organisms as they have excellent visual and cognitive capabilities. Therefore, the following study establishes optogenetics in pigeons on histological, physiological, and behavioral levels. We show that AAV1 is the most efficient viral vector in various brain regions and leads to extensive anterograde and retrograde ChR2 expression when combined with the CAG promoter. Furthermore, transient optical stimulation of ChR2 expressing cells in the entopallium decreases pigeons' contrast sensitivity during a grayscale discrimination task. This finding demonstrates causal evidence for the involvement of the entopallium in contrast perception as well as a proof of principle for optogenetics in pigeons and provides the groundwork for various other methods that rely on viral gene transfer in birds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noemi Rook
- Department of Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150, 44801, Bochum, Germany.
| | - John Michael Tuff
- Department of Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150, 44801, Bochum, Germany
| | - Sevim Isparta
- Department of Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150, 44801, Bochum, Germany
- Department of Genetics, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ankara University, Şht. Ömer Halisdemir Blv, 06110, Ankara, Turkey
| | | | - Stefan Herlitze
- Department of General Zoology and Neurobiology, Ruhr University Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150, 44801, Bochum, Germany
| | - Onur Güntürkün
- Department of Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150, 44801, Bochum, Germany
| | - Roland Pusch
- Department of Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150, 44801, Bochum, Germany
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An avian cortical circuit for chunking tutor song syllables into simple vocal-motor units. Nat Commun 2020; 11:5029. [PMID: 33024101 PMCID: PMC7538968 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18732-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2019] [Accepted: 08/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
How are brain circuits constructed to achieve complex goals? The brains of young songbirds develop motor circuits that achieve the goal of imitating a specific tutor song to which they are exposed. Here, we set out to examine how song-generating circuits may be influenced early in song learning by a cortical region (NIf) at the interface between auditory and motor systems. Single-unit recordings reveal that, during juvenile babbling, NIf neurons burst at syllable onsets, with some neurons exhibiting selectivity for particular emerging syllable types. When juvenile birds listen to their tutor, NIf neurons are also activated at tutor syllable onsets, and are often selective for particular syllable types. We examine a simple computational model in which tutor exposure imprints the correct number of syllable patterns as ensembles in an interconnected NIf network. These ensembles are then reactivated during singing to train a set of syllable sequences in the motor network. Young songbirds learn to imitate their parents’ songs. Here, the authors find that, in baby birds, neurons in a brain region at the interface of auditory and motor circuits signal the onsets of song syllables during both tutoring and babbling, suggesting a specific neural mechanism for vocal imitation.
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Stacho M, Herold C, Rook N, Wagner H, Axer M, Amunts K, Güntürkün O. A cortex-like canonical circuit in the
avian forebrain. Science 2020; 369:369/6511/eabc5534. [DOI: 10.1126/science.abc5534] [Citation(s) in RCA: 78] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2020] [Accepted: 08/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Although the avian pallium seems to lack
an organization akin to that of the cerebral
cortex, birds exhibit extraordinary cognitive
skills that are comparable to those of mammals. We
analyzed the fiber architecture of the avian
pallium with three-dimensional polarized light
imaging and subsequently reconstructed local and
associative pallial circuits with tracing
techniques. We discovered an iteratively repeated,
column-like neuronal circuitry across the
layer-like nuclear boundaries of the hyperpallium
and the sensory dorsal ventricular ridge. These
circuits are connected to neighboring columns and,
via tangential layer-like connections, to higher
associative and motor areas. Our findings indicate
that this avian canonical circuitry is similar to
its mammalian counterpart and might constitute the
structural basis of neuronal computation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Stacho
- Department of Biopsychology,
Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of
Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, 44801 Bochum,
Germany
- Department of Neurophysiology,
Institute of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine,
Ruhr-University Bochum, 44801 Bochum,
Germany
| | - Christina Herold
- Cécile and Oskar Vogt Institute for
Brain Research, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine
University of Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf,
Germany
| | - Noemi Rook
- Department of Biopsychology,
Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of
Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, 44801 Bochum,
Germany
| | - Hermann Wagner
- Institute for Biology II, RWTH Aachen
University, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Markus Axer
- Institute of Neuroscience and
Medicine INM-1, Research Center Jülich, 52425
Jülich, Germany
| | - Katrin Amunts
- Cécile and Oskar Vogt Institute for
Brain Research, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine
University of Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf,
Germany
- Institute of Neuroscience and
Medicine INM-1, Research Center Jülich, 52425
Jülich, Germany
| | - Onur Güntürkün
- Department of Biopsychology,
Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of
Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, 44801 Bochum,
Germany
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30
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Audet JN. Neurobiological and Ecological Correlates of Avian Innovation. Integr Comp Biol 2020; 60:955-966. [PMID: 32681794 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icaa107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
In the wild, particularly in rapidly changing conditions, being capable of solving new problems can increase an animal's chances of survival and reproduction. In the current context of widespread habitat destruction and increasing urbanization, innovativeness might be a crucial trait. In the past few decades, birds have proven to be a model taxon for the study of innovation, thanks to the abundant literature on avian innovation reports. Innovation databases in birds have been successfully employed to assess associations between innovativeness and other traits such as invasion success, life history, generalism, and brain encephalization. In order to more directly assess the causes of variation in innovation, a complementary approach consists in measuring innovativeness in wild-caught animals using problem-solving tasks that mimic innovations in the field. This method can allow for finer scale evaluation of ecological and neural correlates of innovation. Here, I review some of the most important findings on the correlates of innovation, with a particular focus on neural ones. I conclude by discussing avenues for future research, which I suggest should focus on neurobiology.
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Macedo-Lima M, Remage-Healey L. Auditory learning in an operant task with social reinforcement is dependent on neuroestrogen synthesis in the male songbird auditory cortex. Horm Behav 2020; 121:104713. [PMID: 32057821 PMCID: PMC7198363 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2020.104713] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2019] [Revised: 01/17/2020] [Accepted: 02/06/2020] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Animals continually assess their environment for cues associated with threats, competitors, allies, mates or prey, and experience is crucial for those associations. The auditory cortex is important for these computations to enable valence assignment and associative learning. The caudomedial nidopallium (NCM) is part of the songbird auditory association cortex and it is implicated in juvenile song learning, song memorization, and song perception. Like human auditory cortex, NCM is a site of action of estradiol (E2) and is enriched with the enzyme aromatase (E2-synthase). However, it is unclear how E2 modulates auditory learning and perception in the vertebrate auditory cortex. In this study we employ a novel, auditory-dependent operant task governed by social reinforcement to test the hypothesis that neuro-E2 synthesis supports auditory learning in adult male zebra finches. We show that local suppression of aromatase activity in NCM disrupts auditory association learning. By contrast, post-learning performance is unaffected by either NCM aromatase blockade or NCM pharmacological inactivation, suggesting that NCM E2 production and even NCM itself are not required for post-learning auditory discrimination or memory retrieval. Therefore, neuroestrogen synthesis in auditory cortex supports the association between sounds and behaviorally relevant consequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matheus Macedo-Lima
- Neuroscience and Behavior Program, Center for Neuroendocrine Studies, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA; CAPES Foundation, Ministry of Education of Brazil, Brasília, DF, Brazil.
| | - Luke Remage-Healey
- Neuroscience and Behavior Program, Center for Neuroendocrine Studies, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA.
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33
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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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34
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Experience- and Sex-Dependent Intrinsic Plasticity in the Zebra Finch Auditory Cortex during Song Memorization. J Neurosci 2020; 40:2047-2055. [PMID: 31937558 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2137-19.2019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2019] [Revised: 12/09/2019] [Accepted: 12/23/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
For vocal communicators like humans and songbirds, survival and reproduction depend on highly developed auditory processing systems that can detect and differentiate nuanced differences in vocalizations, even amid noisy environments. Early auditory experience is critical to the development of these systems. In zebra finches and other songbirds, there is a sensitive period when young birds memorize a song that will serve as a model for their own vocal production. In addition to learning a specific tutor's song, the auditory system may also undergo critical developmental processes that support auditory perception of vocalizations more generally. Here, we investigate changes in intrinsic spiking dynamics among neurons in the caudal mesopallium, a cortical-level auditory area implicated in discriminating and learning species-specific vocalizations. A subset of neurons in this area only fire transiently at the onset of current injections (i.e., phasic firing), a dynamical property that can enhance the reliability and selectivity of neural responses to complex acoustic stimuli. At the beginning of the sensitive period, just after zebra finches have fledged from the nest, there is an increase in the proportion of caudal mesopallium neurons with phasic excitability, and in the proportion of neurons expressing Kv1.1, a low-threshold channel that facilitates phasic firing. This plasticity requires exposure to a complex, noisy environment and is greater in males, the only sex that sings in this species. This shift to more phasic dynamics is therefore an experience-dependent adaptation that could facilitate auditory processing in noisy, acoustically complex conditions during a key stage of vocal development.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Auditory experience early in life shapes how humans and songbirds perceive the vocal communication sounds produced by their species. However, the changes that occur in the brain as this learning takes place are poorly understood. In this study, we show that in young zebra finches that are just beginning to learn the structure of their species' song, neurons in a key cortical area adapt their intrinsic firing patterns in response to the acoustic environment. In the complex, cocktail-party-like environment of a colony, more neurons adopt transient firing dynamics, which can facilitate neural coding of songs amid such challenging conditions.
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35
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The Neuroethology of Vocal Communication in Songbirds: Production and Perception of a Call Repertoire. THE NEUROETHOLOGY OF BIRDSONG 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-34683-6_7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
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36
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Woolley SC, Woolley SMN. Integrating Form and Function in the Songbird Auditory Forebrain. THE NEUROETHOLOGY OF BIRDSONG 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-34683-6_5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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37
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New Insights into the Avian Song System and Neuronal Control of Learned Vocalizations. THE NEUROETHOLOGY OF BIRDSONG 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-34683-6_3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
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38
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Auditory Selectivity for Spectral Contrast in Cortical Neurons and Behavior. J Neurosci 2019; 40:1015-1027. [PMID: 31826944 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1200-19.2019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2019] [Revised: 12/04/2019] [Accepted: 12/06/2019] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Vocal communication relies on the ability of listeners to identify, process, and respond to vocal sounds produced by others in complex environments. To accurately recognize these signals, animals' auditory systems must robustly represent acoustic features that distinguish vocal sounds from other environmental sounds. Vocalizations typically have spectral structure; power regularly fluctuates along the frequency axis, creating spectral contrast. Spectral contrast is closely related to harmonicity, which refers to spectral power peaks occurring at integer multiples of a fundamental frequency. Although both spectral contrast and harmonicity typify natural sounds, they may differ in salience for communication behavior and engage distinct neural mechanisms. Therefore, it is important to understand which of these properties of vocal sounds underlie the neural processing and perception of vocalizations.Here, we test the importance of vocalization-typical spectral features in behavioral recognition and neural processing of vocal sounds, using male zebra finches. We show that behavioral responses to natural and synthesized vocalizations rely on the presence of discrete frequency components, but not on harmonic ratios between frequencies. We identify a specific population of neurons in primary auditory cortex that are sensitive to the spectral resolution of vocal sounds. We find that behavioral and neural response selectivity is explained by sensitivity to spectral contrast rather than harmonicity. This selectivity emerges within the cortex; it is absent in the thalamorecipient region and present in the deep output region. Further, deep-region neurons that are contrast-sensitive show distinct temporal responses and selectivity for modulation density compared with unselective neurons.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Auditory coding and perception are critical for vocal communication. Auditory neurons must encode acoustic features that distinguish vocalizations from other sounds in the environment and generate percepts that direct behavior. The acoustic features that drive neural and behavioral selectivity for vocal sounds are unknown, however. Here, we show that vocal response behavior scales with stimulus spectral contrast but not with harmonicity, in songbirds. We identify a distinct population of auditory cortex neurons in which response selectivity parallels behavioral selectivity. This neural response selectivity is explained by sensitivity to spectral contrast rather than to harmonicity. Our findings inform the understanding of how the auditory system encodes socially-relevant signals via detection of an acoustic feature that is ubiquitous in vocalizations.
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39
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Inda M, Hotta K, Oka K. Neural properties of fundamental function encoding of sound selectivity in the female avian auditory cortex. Eur J Neurosci 2019; 51:1770-1783. [PMID: 31705589 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.14616] [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: 05/09/2019] [Revised: 11/03/2019] [Accepted: 11/05/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) use their voices for communication. Song structures in the songs of individual males are important for sound recognition in females. The caudomedial mesopallium (CMM) and nidopallium (NCM) are known to be essential higher auditory regions for sound recognition. These two regions have also been discussed with respect to their fundamental functions and song selectivity. To clarify their functions and selectivity, we investigated latencies and spiking patterns and also developed a novel correlation analysis to evaluate the relationship between neural activity and the characteristics of acoustic factors. We found that the latencies and spiking patterns in response to song stimuli differed between the CMM and NCM. In addition, our correlation analysis revealed that amplitude and frequency structures were important temporal acoustic factors for both regions. Although the CMM and NCM have different fundamental functions, they share similar encoding systems for acoustic factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Masahiro Inda
- Department of Biosciences and Informatics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University, Yokohama, Japan
| | - Kohji Hotta
- Department of Biosciences and Informatics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University, Yokohama, Japan
| | - Kotaro Oka
- Department of Biosciences and Informatics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University, Yokohama, Japan.,Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
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40
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Fernández M, Morales C, Durán E, Fernández‐Colleman S, Sentis E, Mpodozis J, Karten HJ, Marín GJ. Parallel organization of the avian sensorimotor arcopallium: Tectofugal visual pathway in the pigeon (
Columba livia
). J Comp Neurol 2019; 528:597-623. [DOI: 10.1002/cne.24775] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2019] [Revised: 09/06/2019] [Accepted: 09/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Máximo Fernández
- Departamento de Biología, Facultad de CienciasUniversidad de Chile Santiago Chile
| | - Cristian Morales
- Departamento de Biología, Facultad de CienciasUniversidad de Chile Santiago Chile
| | - Ernesto Durán
- Departamento de Biología, Facultad de CienciasUniversidad de Chile Santiago Chile
| | | | - Elisa Sentis
- Departamento de Biología, Facultad de CienciasUniversidad de Chile Santiago Chile
| | - Jorge Mpodozis
- Departamento de Biología, Facultad de CienciasUniversidad de Chile Santiago Chile
| | - Harvey J. Karten
- Department of Neurosciences, School of MedicineUniversity of California San Diego California
| | - Gonzalo J. Marín
- Departamento de Biología, Facultad de CienciasUniversidad de Chile Santiago Chile
- Facultad de MedicinaUniversidad Finis Terrae Santiago Chile
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41
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Elie JE, Theunissen FE. Invariant neural responses for sensory categories revealed by the time-varying information for communication calls. PLoS Comput Biol 2019; 15:e1006698. [PMID: 31557151 PMCID: PMC6762074 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1006698] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2018] [Accepted: 06/08/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Although information theoretic approaches have been used extensively in the analysis of the neural code, they have yet to be used to describe how information is accumulated in time while sensory systems are categorizing dynamic sensory stimuli such as speech sounds or visual objects. Here, we present a novel method to estimate the cumulative information for stimuli or categories. We further define a time-varying categorical information index that, by comparing the information obtained for stimuli versus categories of these same stimuli, quantifies invariant neural representations. We use these methods to investigate the dynamic properties of avian cortical auditory neurons recorded in zebra finches that were listening to a large set of call stimuli sampled from the complete vocal repertoire of this species. We found that the time-varying rates carry 5 times more information than the mean firing rates even in the first 100 ms. We also found that cumulative information has slow time constants (100–600 ms) relative to the typical integration time of single neurons, reflecting the fact that the behaviorally informative features of auditory objects are time-varying sound patterns. When we correlated firing rates and information values, we found that average information correlates with average firing rate but that higher-rates found at the onset response yielded similar information values as the lower-rates found in the sustained response: the onset and sustained response of avian cortical auditory neurons provide similar levels of independent information about call identity and call-type. Finally, our information measures allowed us to rigorously define categorical neurons; these categorical neurons show a high degree of invariance for vocalizations within a call-type. Peak invariance is found around 150 ms after stimulus onset. Surprisingly, call-type invariant neurons were found in both primary and secondary avian auditory areas. Just as the recognition of faces requires neural representations that are invariant to scale and rotation, the recognition of behaviorally relevant auditory objects, such as spoken words, requires neural representations that are invariant to the speaker uttering the word and to his or her location. Here, we used information theory to investigate the time course of the neural representation of bird communication calls and of behaviorally relevant categories of these same calls: the call-types of the bird’s repertoire. We found that neurons in both the primary and secondary avian auditory cortex exhibit invariant responses to call renditions within a call-type, suggestive of a potential role for extracting the meaning of these communication calls. We also found that time plays an important role: first, neural responses carry significantly more information when represented by temporal patterns calculated at the small time scale of 10 ms than when measured as average rates and, second, this information accumulates in a non-redundant fashion up to long integration times of 600 ms. This rich temporal neural representation is matched to the temporal richness found in the communication calls of this species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie E. Elie
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States of America
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Frédéric E. Theunissen
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States of America
- Department of Psychology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States of America
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42
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Moore JM, Woolley SMN. Emergent tuning for learned vocalizations in auditory cortex. Nat Neurosci 2019; 22:1469-1476. [PMID: 31406364 PMCID: PMC6713594 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-019-0458-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2018] [Accepted: 06/24/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Vocal learners use early social experience to develop auditory skills specialized for communication. However, it is unknown where in the auditory pathway neural responses become selective for vocalizations or how the underlying encoding mechanisms change with experience. We used a vocal tutoring manipulation in two species of songbird to reveal that tuning for conspecific song arises within the primary auditory cortical circuit. Neurons in the deep region of primary auditory cortex responded more to conspecific songs than to other species' songs and more to species-typical spectrotemporal modulations, but neurons in the intermediate (thalamorecipient) region did not. Moreover, birds that learned song from another species exhibited parallel shifts in selectivity and tuning toward the tutor species' songs in the deep but not the intermediate region. Our results locate a region in the auditory processing hierarchy where an experience-dependent coding mechanism aligns auditory responses with the output of a learned vocal motor behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordan M Moore
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
- Zuckerman Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Sarah M N Woolley
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
- Zuckerman Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
- Kavli Institute for Brain Science, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
- Center for Integrative Animal Behavior, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
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43
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Fernández M, Ahumada‐Galleguillos P, Sentis E, Marín G, Mpodozis J. Intratelencephalic projections of the avian visual dorsal ventricular ridge: Laminarly segregated, reciprocally and topographically organized. J Comp Neurol 2019; 528:321-359. [DOI: 10.1002/cne.24757] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2019] [Revised: 08/07/2019] [Accepted: 08/08/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Máximo Fernández
- Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Universidad de Chile Santiago Chile
| | - Patricio Ahumada‐Galleguillos
- Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Universidad de Chile Santiago Chile
- Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Facultad de Medicina Universidad de Chile Santiago Chile
| | - Elisa Sentis
- Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Universidad de Chile Santiago Chile
| | - Gonzalo Marín
- Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Universidad de Chile Santiago Chile
- Facultad de Medicina Universidad Finis Terrae Santiago Chile
| | - Jorge Mpodozis
- Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Universidad de Chile Santiago Chile
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Bottjer SW, Ronald AA, Kaye T. Response properties of single neurons in higher level auditory cortex of adult songbirds. J Neurophysiol 2019; 121:218-237. [PMID: 30461366 PMCID: PMC6383665 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00751.2018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2018] [Accepted: 11/08/2018] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
The caudomedial nidopallium (NCM) is a higher level region of auditory cortex in songbirds that has been implicated in encoding learned vocalizations and mediating perception of complex sounds. We made cell-attached recordings in awake adult male zebra finches ( Taeniopygia guttata) to characterize responses of single NCM neurons to playback of tones and songs. Neurons fell into two broad classes: narrow fast-spiking cells and broad sparsely firing cells. Virtually all narrow-spiking cells responded to playback of pure tones, compared with approximately half of broad-spiking cells. In addition, narrow-spiking cells tended to have lower thresholds and faster, less variable spike onset latencies than did broad-spiking cells, as well as higher firing rates. Tonal responses of narrow-spiking cells also showed broader ranges for both frequency and amplitude compared with broad-spiking neurons and were more apt to have V-shaped tuning curves compared with broad-spiking neurons, which tended to have complex (discontinuous), columnar, or O-shaped frequency response areas. In response to playback of conspecific songs, narrow-spiking neurons showed high firing rates and low levels of selectivity whereas broad-spiking neurons responded sparsely and selectively. Broad-spiking neurons in which tones failed to evoke a response showed greater song selectivity compared with those with a clear tuning curve. These results are consistent with the idea that narrow-spiking neurons represent putative fast-spiking interneurons, which may provide a source of intrinsic inhibition that contributes to the more selective tuning in broad-spiking cells. NEW & NOTEWORTHY The response properties of neurons in higher level regions of auditory cortex in songbirds are of fundamental interest because processing in such regions is essential for vocal learning and plasticity and for auditory perception of complex sounds. Within a region of secondary auditory cortex, neurons with narrow spikes exhibited high firing rates to playback of both tones and multiple conspecific songs, whereas broad-spiking neurons responded sparsely and selectively to both tones and songs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah W Bottjer
- Section of Neurobiology, University of Southern California , Los Angeles, California
| | - Andrew A Ronald
- Section of Neurobiology, University of Southern California , Los Angeles, California
| | - Tiara Kaye
- Section of Neurobiology, University of Southern California , Los Angeles, California
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Yuan RC, Bottjer SW. Differential developmental changes in cortical representations of auditory-vocal stimuli in songbirds. J Neurophysiol 2018; 121:530-548. [PMID: 30540540 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00714.2018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Procedural skill learning requires iterative comparisons between feedback of self-generated motor output and a goal sensorimotor pattern. In juvenile songbirds, neural representations of both self-generated behaviors (each bird's own immature song) and the goal motor pattern (each bird's adult tutor song) are essential for vocal learning, yet little is known about how these behaviorally relevant stimuli are encoded. We made extracellular recordings during song playback in anesthetized juvenile and adult zebra finches ( Taeniopygia guttata) in adjacent cortical regions RA (robust nucleus of the arcopallium), AId (dorsal intermediate arcopallium), and RA cup, each of which is well situated to integrate auditory-vocal information: RA is a motor cortical region that drives vocal output, AId is an adjoining cortical region whose projections converge with basal ganglia loops for song learning in the dorsal thalamus, and RA cup surrounds RA and receives inputs from primary and secondary auditory cortex. We found strong developmental differences in neural selectivity within RA, but not in AId or RA cup. Juvenile RA neurons were broadly responsive to multiple songs but preferred juvenile over adult vocal sounds; in addition, spiking responses lacked consistent temporal patterning. By adulthood, RA neurons responded most strongly to each bird's own song with precisely timed spiking activity. In contrast, we observed a complete lack of song responsivity in both juvenile and adult AId, even though this region receives song-responsive inputs. A surprisingly large proportion of sites in RA cup of both juveniles and adults did not respond to song playback, and responsive sites showed little evidence of song selectivity. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Motor skill learning entails changes in selectivity for behaviorally relevant stimuli across cortical regions, yet the neural representation of these stimuli remains understudied. We investigated how information important for vocal learning in zebra finches is represented in regions analogous to infragranular layers of motor and auditory cortices during vs. after the developmentally regulated learning period. The results provide insight into how neurons in higher level stages of cortical processing represent stimuli important for motor skill learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel C Yuan
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Southern California , Los Angeles, California
| | - Sarah W Bottjer
- Section of Neurobiology, University of Southern California , Los Angeles, California
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Brawn TP, Nusbaum HC, Margoliash D. Sleep-dependent reconsolidation after memory destabilization in starlings. Nat Commun 2018; 9:3093. [PMID: 30082791 PMCID: PMC6079047 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-05518-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2017] [Accepted: 06/25/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Reconsolidation theory describes memory formation as an ongoing process that cycles between labile and stable states. Though sleep is critical for the initial consolidation of a memory, there has been little evidence that sleep facilitates reconsolidation. We now demonstrate in two experiments that a sleep-consolidated memory can be destabilized if the memory is reactivated by retrieval. The destabilized memory, which can be impaired if an interference task is encountered after, but not before, the memory is reactivated, is then reconsolidated after sleep. In two additional experiments, we provide evidence suggesting that the learning of the interference task promotes the subsequent sleep-dependent enhancement of the original memory. These results provide novel insight into the complex mechanisms of memory processing, as well as critical evidence supporting the view that long-term memory formation involves a dynamic process of sleep-dependent consolidation, use-dependent destabilization, and sleep-dependent reconsolidation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy P Brawn
- Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA.
- Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA.
- Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
| | - Howard C Nusbaum
- Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA
| | - Daniel Margoliash
- Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA
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Vahaba DM, Remage-Healey L. Neuroestrogens rapidly shape auditory circuits to support communication learning and perception: Evidence from songbirds. Horm Behav 2018; 104:77-87. [PMID: 29555375 PMCID: PMC7025793 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2018.03.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2018] [Revised: 03/15/2018] [Accepted: 03/15/2018] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Contribution to Special Issue on Fast effects of steroids. Steroid hormones, such as estrogens, were once thought to be exclusively synthesized in the ovaries and enact transcriptional changes over the course of hours to days. However, estrogens are also locally synthesized within neural circuits, wherein they rapidly (within minutes) modulate a range of behaviors, including spatial cognition and communication. Here, we review the role of brain-derived estrogens (neuroestrogens) as modulators within sensory circuits in songbirds. We first present songbirds as an attractive model to explore how neuroestrogens in auditory cortex modulate vocal communication processing and learning. Further, we examine how estrogens may enhance vocal learning and auditory memory consolidation in sensory cortex via mechanisms similar to those found in the hippocampus of rodents and birds. Finally, we propose future directions for investigation, including: 1) the extent of developmental and hemispheric shifts in aromatase and membrane estrogen receptor expression in auditory circuits; 2) how neuroestrogens may impact inhibitory interneurons to regulate audition and critical period plasticity; and, 3) dendritic spine plasticity as a candidate mechanism mediating estrogen-dependent effects on vocal learning. Together, this perspective of estrogens as neuromodulators in the vertebrate brain has opened new avenues in understanding sensory plasticity, including how hormones can act on communication circuits to influence behaviors in other vocal learning species, such as in language acquisition and speech processing in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel M Vahaba
- Neuroscience and Behavior Program, Center for Neuroendocrine Studies, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003, United States
| | - Luke Remage-Healey
- Neuroscience and Behavior Program, Center for Neuroendocrine Studies, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003, United States.
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Chang DH, Ban H, Ikegaya Y, Fujita I, Troje NF. Cortical and subcortical responses to biological motion. Neuroimage 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.03.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
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Montiel JF, Aboitiz F. Homology in Amniote Brain Evolution: The Rise of Molecular Evidence. BRAIN, BEHAVIOR AND EVOLUTION 2018; 91:59-64. [PMID: 29860258 DOI: 10.1159/000489116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2018] [Accepted: 04/10/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Juan F Montiel
- Instituto de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de O'Higgins, Rancagua, Chile.,Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago, Chile
| | - Francisco Aboitiz
- Centro Interdisciplinario de Neurociencias, Escuela de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
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Ahmadiantehrani S, Gores EO, London SE. A complex mTOR response in habituation paradigms for a social signal in adult songbirds. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2018; 25:273-282. [PMID: 29764973 PMCID: PMC5959225 DOI: 10.1101/lm.046417.117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2018] [Accepted: 03/19/2018] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
Nonassociative learning is considered simple because it depends on presentation of a single stimulus, but it likely reflects complex molecular signaling. To advance understanding of the molecular mechanisms of one form of nonassociative learning, habituation, for ethologically relevant signals we examined song recognition learning in adult zebra finches. These colonial songbirds learn the unique song of individuals, which helps establish and maintain mate and other social bonds, and informs appropriate behavioral interactions with specific birds. We leveraged prior work demonstrating behavioral habituation for individual songs, and extended the molecular framework correlated with this behavior by investigating the mechanistic Target of Rapamycin (mTOR) signaling cascade. We hypothesized that mTOR may contribute to habituation because it integrates a variety of upstream signals and enhances associative learning, and it crosstalks with another cascade previously associated with habituation, ERK/ZENK. To begin probing for a possible role for mTOR in song recognition learning, we used a combination of song playback paradigms and bidirectional dysregulation of mTORC1 activation. We found that mTOR demonstrates the molecular signatures of a habituation mechanism, and that its manipulation reveals the complexity of processes that may be invoked during nonassociative learning. These results thus expand the molecular targets for habituation studies and raise new questions about neural processing of complex natural signals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Somayeh Ahmadiantehrani
- Department of Psychology, Institute for Mind and Biology, Grossman Institute for Neuroscience, Quantitative Biology and Human Behavior, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA
| | - Elisa O Gores
- Department of Psychology, Institute for Mind and Biology, Grossman Institute for Neuroscience, Quantitative Biology and Human Behavior, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA
| | - Sarah E London
- Department of Psychology, Institute for Mind and Biology, Grossman Institute for Neuroscience, Quantitative Biology and Human Behavior, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA
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