title: Young, active and well-connected: adult-born neurons in the zebra finch are activated during singing.
abstract: Neuronal replacement in the pallial song control nucleus HVC of adult zebra finches constitutes an interesting case of homeostatic plasticity; in spite of continuous addition and attrition of neurons in ensembles that code song elements, adult song remains remarkably invariant. New neurons migrate into HVC and later synapse with their target, arcopallial song nucleus RA (HVCRA). New HVCRA neurons respond to auditory stimuli (in anaesthetised animals), but whether and when they become functionally active during singing is unknown. We studied this, using 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine to birth-date neurons, combined with immunohistochemical detection of immediate-early gene (IEG) expression and retrograde tracer injections into RA to track connectivity. Interestingly, singing was followed by IEG expression in a substantial fraction of new neurons that were not retrogradely labelled from RA, suggesting a possible role in HVC-intrinsic network function. As new HVC neurons matured, the proportion of HVCRA neurons that expressed IEGs after singing increased significantly. Since it was previously shown that singing induces IEG expression in HVC also in deaf birds and that hearing song does not induce IEG expression in HVC, our data provide the first direct evidence that new HVC neurons are engaged in song motor behaviour.
authors: Laboratory of Animal Behavior, Psychology Department, Hunter College, 695 Park Ave. HN 621, New York, NY, 10065, USA.|Department of Animal Behaviour, Freie Universität Berlin, Takustr. 6, 14195, Berlin, Germany.
authors: Kirill
authors: K
authors: Tokarev
authors: Department of Translational Neuroscience, Brain Centre, Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Universiteitsweg 100, 3584 CG, Utrecht, The Netherlands.|Department of Animal Behaviour, Freie Universität Berlin, Takustr. 6, 14195, Berlin, Germany.
authors: Arjen J
authors: AJ
authors: Boender
authors: Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Cell Biology, Leibnitz Institut für Molekulare Pharmakologie, Robert-Rössler-Strasse 10, 13125, Berlin, Germany.|Department of Animal Behaviour, Freie Universität Berlin, Takustr. 6, 14195, Berlin, Germany.
authors: Gala A E
authors: GA
authors: Claßen
authors: Department of Animal Behaviour, Freie Universität Berlin, Takustr. 6, 14195, Berlin, Germany. scharff@zedat.fu-berlin.de.
authors: Constance
authors: C
authors: Scharff
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000818:Animals; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D030161:Avian Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D051766:Early Growth Response Protein 1 / Q000378:metabolism; D046369:Finches; D053400:High Vocal Center / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D055495:Neurogenesis; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / Q000378:metabolism; D014828:Vocalization, Animal
chemical_list: D030161:Avian Proteins; D051766:Early Growth Response Protein 1; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos
keywords: Adult neurogenesis; Immediate-early genes; Maturation; Vocal control; Vocalisations