title: Interplay of inhibition and excitation shapes a premotor neural sequence.
abstract: In the zebra finch, singing behavior is driven by a sequence of bursts within premotor neurons located in the forebrain nucleus HVC (proper name). In addition to these excitatory projection neurons, HVC also contains inhibitory interneurons with a role in premotor patterning that is unclear. Here, we used a range of electrophysiological and behavioral observations to test previously described models suggesting discrete functional roles for inhibitory interneurons in song production. We show that single HVC premotor neuron bursts are sufficient to drive structured activity within the interneuron network because of pervasive and facilitating synaptic connections. We characterize interneuron activity during singing and describe reliable pauses in the firing of those neurons. We then demonstrate that these gaps in inhibition are likely to be necessary for driving normal bursting behavior in HVC premotor neurons and suggest that structured inhibition and excitation may be a general mechanism enabling sequence generation in other circuits.
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Institute and Department of Otolaryngology, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, New York 10016, and Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, New York 10003.
authors.forename: Georg
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3104-7827
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kosche
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Institute and Department of Otolaryngology, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, New York 10016, and Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, New York 10003.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7518-0566
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vallentin
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Institute and Department of Otolaryngology, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, New York 10016, and Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, New York 10003 mlong@med.nyu.edu.
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Long
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D046369:Finches; D053400:High Vocal Center / Q000502:physiology*; D007395:Interneurons / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology*; D009433:Neural Inhibition / Q000502:physiology*; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D016548:Prosencephalon / Q000502:physiology; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology; D014828:Vocalization, Animal / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: behavior; circuit; inhibition; intracellular; neural sequence; premotor