Song- and order-selective neurons develop in the songbird anterior forebrain during vocal learning
✍ Scribed by Doupe, Allison J. ;Solis, Michele M.
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1997
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 309 KB
- Volume
- 33
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0022-3034
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✦ Synopsis
The anterior forebrain (AF) pathlectivity for both tutor song and BOS (in this case, way of songbirds has an essential but poorly underplastic song). The degree of BOS selectivity is still stood function during song learning, a process requirless than that found in adults, however. In addition, ing auditory experience. Consistent with a role in proneurons at 60 days are heterogenous in their prefercessing auditory information, two nuclei of the AF, ence for BOS versus tutor song: Most prefer BOS, the lateral magnocellular nucleus of the anterior neosome prefer tutor song, and others respond equally to striatum (lMAN) and Area X (X), contain some of both songs. The selectivity of adult AF auditory neuthe most complex auditory neurons known. In adult rons therefore arises rapidly during development zebra finches, these neurons are strongly selective for in neurons that are initially unselective. These neuboth spectral and temporal properties of song: They rons are one of the clearest examples of experiencerespond more robustly to the bird's own song (BOS) dependent acquisition of complex stimulus selectivity. than to songs of conspecific individuals, and they re-Moreover, the neural selectivity for both BOS and spond less well to BOS if it is played in reverse. lMAN tutor song at 60 days raises the possibility that experiand X neurons of young finches early in the process ence of both songs during learning contributes to the of song learning (30-45 days of age) are also song properties of individual AF neurons.