Songbird subthalamic neurons project to dopaminergic midbrain and exhibit singing-related activity.
Songbird subthalamic neurons project to dopaminergic midbrain and exhibit singing-related activity.
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DOI：
10.1152/jn.00254.2021
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发表时间：
2021-12
影响因子：
2.5
通讯作者：
Anindita Das;J. Goldberg
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Anindita Das;J. Goldberg
Skill learning requires motor output to be evaluated against internal performance benchmarks. In songbirds, ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine neurons (DA) signal performance errors important for learning, but it remains unclear which brain regions project to VTA and how these inputs may contribute to DA error signaling. Here we find that the songbird subthalamic nucleus (STN) projects to VTA and that STN micro-stimulation can excite VTA neurons. We also discover that STN receives inputs from motor cortical, auditory cortical and ventral pallidal brain regions previously implicated in song evaluation. In the first neural recordings from songbird STN, we discover that the activity of most STN neurons is associated with body movements and not singing, but a small fraction of neurons exhibits precise song timing and performance error signals. Our results place the STN in a pathway important for song learning, but not song production, and expand the territories of songbird brain potentially associated with song learning.
