DOCSLIB.ORG

Song-Induced ZENK Gene Expression in Auditory Pathways of Songbird Brain and Its Relation to the Song Control System

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Song-Induced ZENK Gene Expression in Auditory Pathways of Songbird Brain and Its Relation to the Song Control System The Journal of Neuroscience, November 1994, 14(11): 6652-6666 Song-induced ZENK Gene Expression in Auditory Pathways of Songbird Brain and Its Relation to the Song Control System Claudio V. Mello’ and David F. Clayton2 ‘Laboratory of Animal Behavior, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10021 and *Department of Cell and Structural Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801 The ZENK gene encodes a zinc-finger-containing transcrip- Marler and Peters, 1977; Welty and Baptista, 1988; Godard, tional regulator and can be rapidly activated in songbird brain 1991). Considerableprogress has been achieved in defining the by presentation of birdsong (Mello et al., 1992). Here we map neural substrate of normal singing behavior by using a combi- the areas of the songbird forebrain that show this genomic nation of brain lesions,electrophysiological recordings and an- response to birdsong, using in situ hybridization. After 30 atomical tract-tracing techniques. A seriesof distinct intercon- min of song presentation ZENK mRNA levels reach a peak nected brain nuclei is necessaryfor normal song production in the caudomedial telencephalon, in areas adjacent to or (Nottebohm et al., 1976, 1982); these include a neostriatal nu- closely related with primary auditory structures. These areas cleus,HVC (high vocal center), an archistriatal nucleusto which include subfields of field L (Ll and L3), the caudomedial HVC projects (RA or robustus archistriatalis), and RA’s pro- neostriatum (NCM), the caudomedial hyperstriatum ventrale jections onto the motoneurons of the XII cranial nerve that (CMHV) anterior to field L, the caudal paleostriatum, and two innervate the syrinx, the vocal organ of songbirds.An alternative field L targets, HVC shelf and RA cup. In contrast, ZENK pathway leading from HVC to RA includes a seriesof paleo- induction is absent in some areas that show a response to striatal, thalamic, and neostriatal nuclei, and seemsto be es- song by other measures and where ZENK induction might sential for songlearning, but not necessarilyfor songproduction have been expected. These include the direct thalamo-re- in adults (Bottjer et al., 1984; Sohrabji et al., 1990; Scharff and cipient field L subfield L2, and the nuclei of the circuit in- Nottebohm, 1991). Various of these “song control nuclei” un- volved in the acquisition and production of learned song. dergo anatomical changesassociated with the development of These results demonstrate that ZENK induction following song production in juveniles (Konishi and Akutagawa, 1985; song presentation occurs only in a subset of areas physi- Nordeen and Nordeen, 1988) and with subsequentseasonal ologically activated by song, and draw attention to areas changesin singing behavior in speciessuch as the canary (Not- previously unsuspected as related to processing of complex tebohm, 198 1, 1989; Nottebohm et al., 1986; Alvarez-Buylla auditory stimuli. Based on what is known about ZENK func- et al., 1990). tion in mammalian systems (Christy et al., 1989; Cole et al., Despite considerableprogress in understandingsong produc- 1989; Wisden et al., 1990), we speculate that areas revealed tion, relatively little is known about the neural circuitry re- by ZENK induction might correspond to sites where critical sponsible for song perception and discrimination, or for the neuronal modifications occur in response to birdsong pre- formation of memoriesrelated to the songsthe bird hears.An- sentation, possibly leading to the formation of song-related atomical studieshave revealed that the ascendingauditory path- memories. ways in birds share many homologies with mammals and in- [Key words: song control circuit, birdsong, immediate-ear- clude the midbrain nucleus MLd (homolog of the mammalian ly gene, ZENK, field L, NCM] inferior colliculus) and the thalamic nucleus Ov (homolog of the medial geniculate; seeKarten, 1967, 1968). Projectionsfrom Ov then reach the telencephalonthrough the primary auditory Songbirds have emerged, in the last 3 decades,as a powerful projection area, field L (Karten, 1968; Kelley and Nottebohm, system to study the mechanismsby which experience leads to 1979). However, the anatomy and function of higher auditory the modification of behaviors. Birds must hear and remember processingstations in the avian telencephalon is poorly under- songsfrom other individuals in order to perform various tasks stood. Recent studies of field L cytoarchitectonic organization essentialfor their survival and reproduction, such as songleam- in songbirds, for example, reveal that it is a complex structure ing, territorial defense,and courtship behavior (Kroodsma, 1976; consisting of various subdivisions whose specific connections and functions are not yet well defined (Fortune and Margoliash, 1992a). Metabolic studies and electrophysiological recordings received Nov. 16, 1993; revised Apr. 19, 1994; accepted Apr. 27, 1994. have demonstrated that units in the avian field L have a ton- We gratefully acknowledge the unfailing support and continual inspiration pro- vided by Fernando Nottebohm over many years; without his generous and in- otopic organization and show low selectivity to complex audi- quisitive spirit, this marriage of molecular biology and neuroethology never would tory stimuli (D. Bonke et al., 1979; Mtiller and Leppelsack, have proceeded. We also thank Fernando Nottebohm for providing birds from 1985; Mtiller and Scheich, 1985); auditory responseswith a the Rockefeller University Field Research Center, with partial support of a grant from the National Institutes of Health (DCO0182). Specific grant support for the higher selectivity for complex stimuli have been described in experiments presented here was provided to D.F.C. by the Whitehall Foundation areasadjacent to and receiving an input from field L, for instance and the NIH (NS25742). the caudomedial HV (Mtiller and Leppelsack, 1985). Correspondence should be addressed to Claudio V. Mello, Laboratory ofAnimal Behavior, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY, 1002 1. Initial studies on field L connectivity in songbirdsrevealed Copyright 0 1994 Society for Neuroscience 0270-6474/94/146652-l 5$05,00/O projections to the shelf and cup areasimmediately adjacent to The Journal of Neuroscience, November 1994, f4(11) 6653 nuclei HVC and RA, respectively (Kelley and Nottebohm, 1979) suggesting a pathway for auditory information to reach the nu- clei that control song production. Because these nuclei are an- atomically well defined and have an obvious function in song behavior, several studies have been directed at testing the hy- pothesis that these song control centers also have a role in song perception and discrimination. From the work of a number of individuals, it is now apparent that selective electrophysiological responses can be evoked by the sound of specific songs at various levels throughout the song control pathway, all the way to the syringeal musculature (Katz and Gurney, 1981; Margoliash, 1983, 1986; Williams and Nottebohm, 1985; Doupe and Kon- Figure 1. Northernblot analysisof the ZENK gene. Shown is an x-ray ishi, 1991; Margoliash and Fortune, 1992; Vicario and Yohai, film autoradiogramof a blot containingsize-fractionated RNA isolated 1993). The identification of these auditory responses confirms from the forebrainof canaries(A andB) or zebrafinches (C), hybridized that the song control pathway receives auditory input and may to a 32P-labeledsingle-stranded antisense riboprobe for the ZENK gene. be tuned to specific song patterns. However, it does not yet A contains30 wug,of total RNA, and B and C contain 3 ueof polyA+ RNA, final washconditions are 0.1 x SSPE,0.1% SDS’it 65°C(hy- establish a functional role for these responses, nor does it es- bridization protocolas described in Claytonet al., 1988). tablish whether the response specificity arises within the song control pathway or in other auditory processing centers that may ultimately impinge upon the song control pathway. striatum (NCM), ZENK gene activation seemsto be specific to More suggestive evidence that the song control nuclei have a song stimulation, in that conspecific songselicit a greater re- function in song perception and behavioral modification has sponsethan heterospecific songs, and pure auditory tones do been provided by Brenowitz (1991) who showed that lesions not causeit (Mello et al., 1992). This responseappears to be directed at HVC will disrupt the selectivity of the behavioral specifically linked to perceptual processesas opposedto motor response of females to conspecific song. However, these “HVC” activity, as it occurs independent of song production by the lesions were not limited to HVC proper but also included sur- birds that hear the song.Although the functional significanceof rounding neo- and hyperstriatum, areas that could also be in- the ZENK responseis yet unknown, it neverthelessprovides a volved in auditory processing and perception (B. A. Bonke et way to map sites in the brain that undergo a physiological re- al., 1979; Kelley and Nottebohm, 1979; Saini and Leppelsack, sponseto a song stimulus. Since the areaswhere we detect this 1981; Fortune and Margoliash, 1992; Mello et al., 1992). Fur- responsediffer from the areas one might have expected based thermore, behavioral responses by females to conspecific song on previous studies, the present methodology may highlight can be elicited in species in which females lack a complete song heretofore unappreciated aspectsof the organization of the song control
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Relationship Between Nature of Social Change, Age, and Position of New Neurons and Their Survival in Adult Zebra Finch Brain
    5394 • The Journal of Neuroscience, May 14, 2008 • 28(20):5394–5400 Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive The Relationship between Nature of Social Change, Age, and Position of New Neurons and Their Survival in Adult Zebra Finch Brain Einat Adar,1 Fernando Nottebohm,2 and Anat Barnea3 1Department of Zoology, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 61391, Israel, 2The Rockefeller University Field Research Center, Millbrook, New York 12545, and 3Department of Natural and Life Sciences, The Open University of Israel, Raanana 43107, Israel Some kinds of neurons are spontaneously recruited in the intact, healthy adult brain, but the variables that affect their survival are not always clear. We show that in caudal nidopallium of adult male zebra finches, the rostrocaudal position of newly recruited neurons, their age (1 vs 3 months), and the nature of social change (complex vs simple) after the neurons were born affect their survival. Greater social complexity promoted the survival of younger new neurons, and the demise of older ones; a less marked social change promoted the survival of older new neurons. These effects were position dependent. We suggest that functional correlations between new neuron recruitment/survival and its inferred benefit to the animal might be better perceived when taking into account the position of cells, their age at the time of life style changes, and the nature and magnitude of the life style change. Key words: songbirds; neuronal age; neuronal replacement; adult brain; nidopallium caudale; information load Introduction malian olfactory bulb, there is a net gain in neuron numbers New neurons are recruited into the forebrains of adult birds (Ninkovic et al., 2007).
    [Show full text]
  • Brain+Cognitive Sciences News Spring 2005 1
    brain+cognitive sciences news Spring 2005 1 MESSAGE FROM THE BCS IN THE NEWS Tech Review, and (soon) Popular Mechanics, BBC The World, NPR DEPARTMENT HEAD PD Associate Russell Tedrake, Mriganka Sur Day to Day, the Science Channel, and Teresa Zhang, Ming-fai Fong, Derrick NECN. Shortly, the Special Edition The Department of Brain and Tan, and Andrew Baines of Sebastian Terminator 2 DVD will also feature Cognitive Sciences is in an historic Seung’s lab were members of a team Toddler. phase. We expect our faculty size, that developed a robot that demon- Tomaso Poggio’s group at CBCL currently at 32, to reach 42 by 2010, strates a new learning system that has developed a quantitative model of double the size relative to 1995 allows it to continuously adapt to the the first few hundred milliseconds of – a growth made possible by the terrain as it moves. Named Toddler primate visual perception to account McGovern Institute and the Picower because of the way it walks, Russ for some of the basic properties of the Center. We are on the verge of mov- says it is “one of the first walking physiology and the psychophysics of ing to a new building that will house, robots to use a learning program, and object recognition. Computer simula- for the first time in 20 years, the entire it is the first to learn to walk without tions have shown the plausibility of department – including neuroscience any prior information built into the this scheme for visual recognition and and cognitive science, and the Picower controller.” Similar robots built at its consistency – so far! – with several Center and McGovern Institute.
    [Show full text]
  • PETER MARLER 24 February 1928 . 5 July 2014
    PETER MARLER BETHANY DANIELS / COLLEGE OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES UC DAVIS 24 february 1928 . 5 july 2014 PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY VOL. 160, NO. 4, DECEMBER 2016 Marler.indd 437 11/30/2016 12:39:58 PM biographical memoirs ETER MARLER died on 5 July 2014. He pioneered the study of animal communication, which until his involvement had been P rather anecdotal. He set up a logical framework that looked at all aspects of the signals used (i.e., their physical structure, who produced them, in what context, and what responses they elicited). Answers to all of these questions then helped researchers infer what information the signals conveyed as well as the intention, or at any rate the benefit to the signaler. In the case of a male songbird singing in the spring, the message was species identity, individual identity, breeding condition, and marital status (e.g., single, shall welcome a mate). To other males, it stated, “This is my territory and I shall defend it.” In this manner, the same message could mean different things to different listeners. Marler came upon this area of interest while working on his first Ph.D. (University College, London, 1952), which involved vegetation surveys of potential nature reserves in Britain, France, and the Azores. In his spare time, he collected recordings of chaffinch song from the same localities. It was while doing this work that he realized the variability in chaffinch song was not random. For example, the song of chaffinches in the Azores was simpler than that in Britain or France.
    [Show full text]
  • Masakazu Konishi
    Masakazu Konishi BORN: Kyoto, Japan February 17, 1933 EDUCATION: Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan, B.S. (1956) Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan, M.S. (1958) University of California, Berkeley, Ph.D. (1963) APPOINTMENTS: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Tübingen, Germany (1963–1964) Postdoctoral Fellow, Division of Experimental Neurophysiology, Max-Planck Institut, Munich, Germany (1964–1965) Assistant Professor of Biology, University of Wisconsin, Madison (1965–1966) Assistant Professor of Biology, Princeton University (1966–1970) Associate Professor of Biology, Princeton University (1970–1975) Professor of Biology, California Institute of Technology (1975– 1980) Bing Professor of Behavioral Biology, California Institute of Technology (1980– ) HONORS AND AWARDS (SELECTED): Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1979) Member, National Academy of Sciences (1985) President, International Society for Neuroethology (1986—1989) F. O. Schmitt Prize (1987) International Prize for Biology (1990) The Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award, Brandeis University (2004) Edward M. Scolnick Prize in Neuroscience, MIT (2004) Gerard Prize, the Society for Neuroscience (2004) Karl Spencer Lashley Award, The American Philosophical Society (2004) The Peter and Patricia Gruber Prize in Neuroscience, The Society for Neuroscience (2005) Masakazu (Mark) Konishi has been one of the leaders in avian neuroethology since the early 1960’s. He is known for his idea that young birds initially remember a tutor song and use the memory as a template to guide the development of their own song. He was the fi rst to show that estrogen prevents programmed cell death in female zebra fi nches. He also pioneered work on the brain mechanisms of sound localization by barn owls. He has trained many students and postdoctoral fellows who became leading neuroethologists.
    [Show full text]
  • Simple Motor Gestures for Birdsongs
    VOLUME 87, NUMBER 20 PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 12NOVEMBER 2001 Simple Motor Gestures for Birdsongs Tim Gardner, G. Cecchi,* and M. Magnasco Center for Studies in Physics and Biology, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, New York 10021 R. Laje and Gabriel B. Mindlin Departamento de Física, FCEN, UBA, Ciudad Universitaria, Pab. I (1428), Buenos Aires, Argentina (Received 20 April 2001; published 26 October 2001) We present a model of sound production in a songbird’s vocal organ and find that much of the com- plexity of the song of the canary (Serinus canaria) can be produced from simple time variations in forcing functions. The starts, stops, and pauses between syllables, as well as variation in pitch and timbre are inherent in the mechanics and can often be expressed through smooth and simple variations in the frequency and relative phase of two driving parameters DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.87.208101 PACS numbers: 87.19.Rr, 43.64. +r, 84.35. +i, 87.19.Nn Human language and the song of many bird species are sound primarily through oscillation of the lateral labia — both learned by juveniles through experience. The on- tissue folds which open and close the air passage from the togeny of learned song begins with early food-begging bronchi to the trachea [10]. Through direct videography calls, continues through more complex bablings known as of a phonating syrinx, Larsen and Goller give evidence subsong, to eventually reach an adult form of song which that these labia function in a manner homologous to the is first plastic, and later stereotyped [1].
    [Show full text]
  • Peter Marler (1928–2014) Pioneering Interpreter of Animal Language
    COMMENT OBITUARY Peter Marler (1928–2014) Pioneering interpreter of animal language. hite-crowned sparrows to Japan to study macaques. Marler sing in distinct dialects himself spent time studying colobus in different parts of Cali- monkeys in Uganda and then, with Wfornia. African vervet monkeys use primatologist Jane Goodall, the social various alarm calls to signal different behaviour of chimpanzees in Tanza- dangers, such as snakes, mammalian nia. He had hoped to glean insights predators or birds of prey. Peter Robert on human language. He learned much Marler chronicled these phenomena about the signals that chimpanzees to establish ideas about how animals use, but felt that human language communicate. He hoped to find clues remained in its own class. about the biology of human language. Marler astutely realized that if he OF ROCKEFELLER ARCHIVE CENTER COURTESY How does language acquisition blend shifted his focus from language to innate knowledge and learning? vocal learning, then birds had much Marler, who died on 5 July, first to offer. Early on, he noticed that became interested in animal sounds songbirds were picky about what as a doctoral student in botany at sounds they imitated, and that choice University College London. Survey- often occurred during the first year ing potential nature reserves in Scot- of life. Moreover, the stages of vocal land, UK, he noticed that the song of learning were set. This explained why the chaffinch Fringilla coelebs changed from I was enthralled when I first heard Marler the dialects of his chaffinches disappeared valley to valley. This led to a second PhD, in lecture at Berkeley.
    [Show full text]
  • Hemispheric Differences in Avian Song Discrimination
    Proc. Nati. Acad. Sci. USA Vol. 89, pp. 1372-1375, February 1992 Neurobiology Hemispheric differences in avian song discrimination ateriatlon/zebra finch/operant/hannnlc) JEFFREY CYNX*, HEATHER WILLIAMS*t, AND FERNANDO NOTTEBOHM* *Rockefeller University Field Research Center for Ecology and Ethology, Tyrrel Road, Millbrook, NY 12545; and tBiology Department, Williams College, Wilhiamstown, MA 01267 Contributed by Fernando Nottebohm, October 21, 1991 ABSTRACT Auditory input to the right or left forebrain of of birds were tested in June-July (14 hr of daylight) and the adult male zebra finches (Taeniopygiaguttata) was disrupted by others were tested in December-January (9 hr of daylight). lesloning the ipsilateral auditory relay nucleus ofthe tmus. Placement of Lesions in Right and Left Nucleus Ovoidalis. These birds were then presented with two kinds of auditory The right or left nucleus ovoidalis [thalamic auditory relay discriminations: (T) between their own song and the song of a nucleus (11, 12)] of each of these birds was located by cage mate; (is) between two versions of an unfamiliar zebra recording from glass-insulated tungsten electrodes while finch song that differed only in the harmonic profile of one of playing tones. Birds were anesthetized with a ketamine/ the syllables. Right-side lesion birds did better than left-side xylazine mixture (25 mg and 50 mg per kg of body weight, lesion ones at discriminating between their own song and the respectively) and placed in a Kopf stereotaxic apparatus with song of a cage mate; left-side lesion birds did better on the hollow, perforated earbars and a bill clamp. Tone-bursts harmonic profile task.
    [Show full text]
  • The Scope of Neuroethology
    THE BEHAVIORAL AND BRAIN SCIENCES (1984) 7, 367-412 Printed in the United States of America The scope of neuroethology Graham Hoyle Institute of Neuroscience, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oreg. 97403 Abstract: Neuroethology, an interdisciplinary subdivision of neuroscience, has emerged in recent years. Since 1976 there has been a regular session under this heading at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. In 1980 two introductory texts in English were published on the subject (Ewert 1980; Guthrie 1980), and a third (Camhi 1984) was published recently. There is widespread interest in neural mechanisms underlying behavior, but they encompass such a vast array of often unrelated topics that proponents do not share common goals. This article describes the emergence of ethology as a discipline, pointing out that its practitioners were successful because they confined their research to stereotyped, complex, nonlearned, innate behavioral acts. A limited number of profoundly significant principles emerged. Each of these is redefined. The major concepts of earlier ethology were embodied in a simple hydraulic model used by Konrad Lorenz in 1949 (Lorenz 1950). It is pointed out that this model implies the existence of common neurophysiological mechanisms and neuronal circuitry. This model has now been made obsolete by neurophysiological progress, but with appropriate ~nodificationsan updated version may still be useful in focusing attention on possible principles. The initial aim of neuroethology should be to examine the neurophysiological events in a variety of behaviors, exhibited by diverse animals from different phyla, which meet the criteria of innate behavioral acts. The behaviors should be sufficiently complex to interest ethologists, yet they should be addressable with neurophysiological methods down to the cellular level.
    [Show full text]
  • 22 Neuronal Plasticity Prize of the Fondation Ipsen: Helen J. Neville, Isabelle Peretz and Robert J. Zatorre Awarded for Their
    Press release 22nd Neuronal Plasticity Prize of the Fondation Ipsen: Helen J. Neville, Isabelle Peretz and Robert J. Zatorre awarded for their pioneering research into the domain of “Music and Brain Plasticity” Paris (France), 19 July 2011 – The 22nd annual Neuronal Plasticity Prize of the Fondation Ipsen has been awarded to Helen J. Neville (University of Oregon, Eugene, USA), Isabelle Peretz (Brams – University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada) and Robert J. Zatorre (Montreal Neurological Institute and Brams Laboratory, Montreal, Canada, USA) for their pioneering research in the domain of “Music and Brain Plasticity”. The €60,000 prize was awarded on July 15, 2011 by an international jury1 led by Professor Nikos Logothetis (Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tubingen, Germany) at the 8th International Brain Research Organization (IBRO) World Congress of Neuroscience, Florence, Italy. About the laureates Helen J. Neville is currently The Robert and Beverly Lewis Endowed Chair and Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, Director of the Brain Development Lab, and Director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Oregon in Eugene. Her work experience includes Director of the Laboratory for Neuropsychology at the Salk Institute. She has published in many journals such as Nature, Nature Neuroscience, Journal of Neuroscience, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, Cerebral Cortex and Brain Research and has made a DVD about the brain for non-scientists. She has received many honors like being elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Board of Governors of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, the Academic Panel of Birth to Three and is active in many educational outreach programs.
    [Show full text]
  • Dr. Donald R. Griffin] Fulvio Bardossi
    Rockefeller University Digital Commons @ RU Rockefeller University Research Profiles Campus Publications Winter 1985 Sensible Animals: [Dr. Donald R. Griffin] Fulvio Bardossi Judith N. Schwartz Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.rockefeller.edu/research_profiles Part of the Life Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Bardossi, Fulvio and Schwartz, Judith N., "Sensible Animals: [Dr. Donald R. Griffin]" (1985). Rockefeller University Research Profiles. Book 6. http://digitalcommons.rockefeller.edu/research_profiles/6 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Campus Publications at Digital Commons @ RU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Rockefeller University Research Profiles by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ RU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY Andfinally one finds oneselfasking what the animals do with their living machinery, for after both the structure and the functioning ofall the parts have been described there remains RESEARCH to be understood the behavior of the intact, living animal. -DONALD GRIFFIN, Listening in the Dark, 1958 PROFILES WINTER 1985/1986 A fish-catching bat reflected Sensible Animals in the its water, hind legs reaching for prey. For forty years Donald Griffin conducted seminal investigations into the behavior of animals. Adopting a bird's eye (and bat's ear) view, he strove to see into what he calls "the sensory windows through which animals experience the world." He learned to fly a plane so that he could follow homing gulls and gannets. He listened in to hear what fish hear underwater. Hauling oscilloscopes and recorders into pitch-black caves, he discovered the secret world of ultrasonic echoes by which bats navigate in the dark.
    [Show full text]
  • An Introduction to Birdsong and the Avian Song System
    An Introduction to Birdsong and the Avian Song System Eliot A. Brenowitz, 1 Daniel Margoliash, 2 Kathy W. Nordeen 3 1 Departments of Psychology and Zoology, Box 351525, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195 2 Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637 3 Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627 INTRODUCTION Konishi, while a student with Marler, showed that birds must be able to hear themselves sing to de- This special issue of the Journal of Neurobiology velop song normally. Fernando Nottebohm, also is devoted to a consideration of the avian song while a student with Marler, showed that the pe- control system. In the 20 years that have passed ripheral control of song production is lateralized. since Nottebohm et al. (1976) first identified fore- Nottebohm and his colleagues subsequently iden- brain circuits that control song in birds, the song tified neural circuits in the avian forebrain that system has emerged as a leading model in behav- control song behavior. This important discovery ioral neuroscience. To mark the beginning of the paved the way for many investigators who have third decade of study of this model, we invited subsequently contributed to our understanding of several leading investigators to contribute to this song behavior and its neural control. volume. We set two goals for the authors: to re- The birdsong system offers several advantages view progress in their area of study and, more as a model for identifying neural mechanisms that important, to identify critical directions for future underlie biologically relevant behavior: research.
    [Show full text]
  • Bird Song for Beginners
    Bird song for beginners David M. Logue This chapter is an introduction to the scientific study of bird song. You may wonder, ‘why am I reading about bird songs for a psychology course?’ The answer is that, like many kinds of animal behaviour, bird song is studied by both biologists and psychologists. In the middle part of the last century, a group of biologists known as the ethologists studied the behaviour of wild animals. They used evolutionary theory to explain natural behaviour in a wide variety of animals. Meanwhile, comparative psychologists were studying sensation, learning, and other mechanisms of behaviour in laboratory settings. They focused on a few model species, like cats, pigeons, and rats, and their goals were to use animals to better understand human behaviour. In the 1970’s, the two fields began moving toward one another. Comparative psychologists integrated more natural behaviour into their research and adopted the evolutionary framework, while evolutionary biologists became increasingly interested in the mechanisms of behaviour, including learning. Today, an animal behaviour scientist can work and publish in both disciplines. For example, I am trained as a biologist, but I have published in both biology and psychology journals and I am now teaching in a department of psychology. Bird song research has a lot to offer psychology. It has provided crucial insights into such ‘psychological’ themes as learning, communication, sex differences, adaptation and constraint, and the neural and hormonal control of behaviour. This chapter is a comprehensive introduction to bird song. It doesn’t go very deep into any particular area of study, but attempts to explain the basics of how and why birds sing.
    [Show full text]