title: Background noise does not modify song-induced genic activation in the bird brain.
abstract: Specialised brain structures allow songbirds to process acoustic signals. One of these brain areas, the NCM (caudomedial neostriatum), shows an immediate-early gene ZENK response when a bird hears a conspecific song. Using a neuro-ethological approach, we investigate if high level of background noise added to conspecific song can modify this song-induced genic activation. We test the ZENK activation in the NCM of adult male Zebra finches Taeniopygya guttata (n = 17) by playing back conspecific signals mixed with different levels of noise, the successful discrimination being reflected by the birds' (n = 6) behavioural responses to these stimuli. From our results, it appears that a high genic activation of the NCM does not necessarily require the audition of an undegraded species-specific signal. Nevertheless, it requires that the signal still contains sufficient information to elicit a behavioural response. The genic activation of the NCM remains thus stable against very high levels of a wide-band background noise, as far as the signal recognition remains possible for the bird.
authors.affiliation: Equipe Communications Acoustiques, NAMC CNRS UMR 8620, Université Paris XI, France. vignalcl@univ-st-etienne.fr
authors.forename: Clémentine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vignal
authors.forename: Joël
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Attia
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mathevon
authors.forename: Marilyn
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Beauchaud
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism / Q000528:radiation effects*; D002452:Cell Count / Q000379:methods; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000528:radiation effects*; D017781:Genes, Immediate-Early / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000528:radiation effects; D009622:Noise; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000528:radiation effects; D020308:Songbirds; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000378:metabolism; D000071230:Transcriptional Regulator ERG; D014828:Vocalization, Animal / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C072312:ERG protein, human; D015534:Trans-Activators; D000071230:Transcriptional Regulator ERG