Synaptic Processing in a Forebrain Pathway Essential For Vocal Learning In Songbirds

LAY ABSTRACT提案编号：IBN-9817889 PI名称：大卫Perkel人类，鲸类（鲸鱼和海豚）和一些鸟类是已知的唯一学习他们的发声的动物。 因此，鸣禽为研究大脑如何学习发声行为提供了一个独特的模型系统。参与鸟类鸣叫产生和学习的大脑结构是不同的，也是明确的，但它们的功能连接还没有很好地理解。目前的建议将检查鸟类的大脑回路，前前脑通路，这（1）是必要的声乐学习，但不是歌曲的生产和（2）类似于一个电路已知在哺乳动物参与各种运动和认知功能。这些实验将使用免疫学和电生理学技术，以确定是否AFP，在其哺乳动物的对应物，有两个连续阶段的抑制性投射，即是否相同的功能布线发生在鸣禽。两个主要好处是：（1）阐明鸣禽的回路是如何调节发声学习的;（2）测试进化上保守的回路，这将为运动学习提供更普遍的规则。这种相似性将为进一步的实验提供必要的指导，这些实验旨在了解发声学习和运动学习的详细细胞机制。

LAY ABSTRACTProposal #: IBN-9817889PI Name: David PerkelHumans, cetaceans (whales and dolphins) and some birds are the only animals known to learn their vocalizations. Songbirds thus provide a uniquely accessible model system for studying how the brain learns vocal behaviors. The brain structures involved in avian song production and learning are distinct and well defined, but their functional connections are not well understood. The present proposal will examine an avian brain circuit, the anterior forebrain pathway, which (1) is necessary for vocal learning but not song production and (2) resembles a circuit known in mammals to be involved in a variety of motor and cognitive functions.These experiments will use immunological and electrophysiological techniques to determine whether the AFP, as in its mammalian counterpart, has two sequential stages of inhibitory projections, i.e. whether the same functional wiring occurs in the songbird. Two primary benefits are: (1) clarification of how the circuit works in songbirds to mediate vocal learning and (2) testing for evolutionarily conserved circuitry, which would suggest more general rules for motor learning. Such similarities would provide essential guidance for further experiments aimed at understanding the detailed cellular mechanisms of vocal learning and of motor learning in general.