Birdsong is a hierarchically patterned learned motor behavior controlled by a nearly serially connected stream of nuclei. This pathway is bilaterally organized, with anatomically indistinguishable structures in each hemisphere. Little is known regarding the nature, or organization, of song features that are encoded by these structures. In the present proposal, we use a number of complimentary experimental techniques (single- and multi-unit recording, stimulation and lesions) to investigate the organization of song feature encoding in HVc, a key telencephalic song control nucleus. These studies will be performed in singing adult zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) under normal and perturbed sensory feedback conditions. ? ? In AIM 1, we exploit interhemispheric coordination of song motor activity in HVc to study the relationship between premotor activity and song output. We hypothesize that analysis of neural patterns recorded simultaneously in both hemispheres will provide insight into the hierarchical encoding of song features. We propose that patterns of coincident activity across hemispheres will specify key song timing features such as syllable, and possibly note, onset and offset. Sensory feedback perturbations cause long-term changes in song output of adult songbirds. It is not known how such perturbations affect song premotor neural patterns in HVc.
AIM 2 will compare neural activity patterns in HVc before and directly after cutting the tracheosyringeal (ts) nerve, a manipulation that alters both acoustic and proprioceptive feedback. We will use multiunit recording to initially characterize the effect of such perturbations on the HVc population response. We will then use single-unit recordings to identify neuronal cell types that are affected by sensory feedback manipulation. ? ? Finally, AIM 3 will investigate how perturbations of HVc network activity, either by microlesions or stimulation, affect the normally stereotyped song output of adult zebra finches. To eliminate the possibility of compensatory activity in the intact contralateral HVc, spatially restricted manipulations will be performed in birds forced to sing with only one song system hemisphere. The proposed studies directly address the spatial and temporal organization of song feature encoding in HVc. ? ?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01DC006102-05
Application #
7174632
Study Section
Integrative, Functional and Cognitive Neuroscience 8 (IFCN)
Program Officer
Platt, Christopher
Project Start
2003-03-15
Project End
2008-07-31
Budget Start
2007-03-01
Budget End
2008-07-31
Support Year
5
Fiscal Year
2007
Total Cost
$258,143
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Pennsylvania
Department
Biology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
042250712
City
Philadelphia
State
PA
Country
United States
Zip Code
19104
Albersheim-Carter, Jacob; Blubaum, Aleksandar; Ballagh, Irene H et al. (2016) Testing the evolutionary conservation of vocal motoneurons in vertebrates. Respir Physiol Neurobiol 224:2-10
Schmidt, Marc F; Martin Wild, J (2014) The respiratory-vocal system of songbirds: anatomy, physiology, and neural control. Prog Brain Res 212:297-335
McLean, Judith; Bricault, Sarah; Schmidt, Marc F (2013) Characterization of respiratory neurons in the rostral ventrolateral medulla, an area critical for vocal production in songbirds. J Neurophysiol 109:948-57
Maguire, Sarah E; Schmidt, Marc F; White, David J (2013) Social brains in context: lesions targeted to the song control system in female cowbirds affect their social network. PLoS One 8:e63239
Lewandowski, Brian; Vyssotski, Alexei; Hahnloser, Richard H R et al. (2013) At the interface of the auditory and vocal motor systems: NIf and its role in vocal processing, production and learning. J Physiol Paris 107:178-92
Schmidt, Marc F; McLean, Judith; Goller, Franz (2012) Breathing and vocal control: the respiratory system as both a driver and a target of telencephalic vocal motor circuits in songbirds. Exp Physiol 97:455-61
Raksin, Jonathan N; Glaze, Christopher M; Smith, Sarah et al. (2012) Linear and nonlinear auditory response properties of interneurons in a high-order avian vocal motor nucleus during wakefulness. J Neurophysiol 107:2185-201
Lewandowski, Brian C; Schmidt, Marc (2011) Short bouts of vocalization induce long-lasting fast ýý oscillations in a sensorimotor nucleus. J Neurosci 31:13936-48
Castelino, Christina B; Schmidt, Marc F (2010) What birdsong can teach us about the central noradrenergic system. J Chem Neuroanat 39:96-111
Schmidt, Marc F (2010) An IACUC perspective on songbirds and their use in neurobiological research. ILAR J 51:424-30

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