Social behavior modulates songbird interpeduncular nucleus function

Mamiko Koshiba (1, 2) , Isabelle George (2) , Erina Hara (2) , Neal A. Hessler (2)

1 TUAT - Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology
2 RIKEN CBS - RIKEN Center for Brain Science [Wako]

Male zebra finches produce the same song while alone and during courtship of a female. However, singing-related activity in the anterior forebrain nuclei lateral magnocellular anterior nidopallium and Area X markedly depends on the social context. Thus, the anterior forebrain should receive a signal of social context from outside the song system. Here we investigated a possible source of such modulation, the midbrain interpeduncular nucleus, by monitoring immediate early genes and synaptic activity. The level of immunoreactivity for egr1 was high and calretinin was low following courtship directed singing, but the opposite pattern was seen after solo undirected singing. Further, pairs of stimulation caused depression of synaptic responses after directed singing, but facilitation after undirected singing.

Keywords: Patch-Clamp Techniques; Neuronal Plasticity; Male; In Vitro Techniques; Neural Pathways; Membrane Potentials; Mesencephalon; Animals; Behavior; Animal; Calbindin 2; Cell Count; Finches; Fluorescent Dyes; Gene Expression Regulation; Immediate-Early Proteins; Immunohistochemistry; Vocalization; Social Behavior; Sexual Behavior; S100 Calcium Binding Protein G

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Life Sciences [q-bio]; Neurons and Cognition [q-bio.NC]; Cognitive Sciences

Mamiko Koshiba, Isabelle George, Erina Hara, Neal A. Hessler. Social behavior modulates songbird interpeduncular nucleus function. NeuroReport, 2005, 16 (5), pp.445--449. ⟨hal-01303565⟩