Neural Bases of Song Preference and Reproductive Behavior in a Female Songbird

雌性鸣鸟鸣叫偏好和繁殖行为的神经基础

• 批准号: 1557499
• 负责人: Marc Schmidt
• 金额: $ 80万
• 依托单位: University of Pennsylvania
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-06-01 至 2020-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1557499&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Neural; Bases; Song; Preference; Reproductive

For many decades, neuroscientists and evolutionary biologists have been interested in the mechanics and function of the songbird's "song system": the interconnected neural circuit that connects the higher-order auditory areas in the brain with the motor circuits in the brainstem that drive behavior. This work predominantly has focused on how the song system allows male songbirds to learn and produce song. The role of this circuit in female songbirds, which do not sing, has largely been ignored. Rather than acting as a circuit that generates vocal behavior, this work investigates the hypothesis that the "song system" in females serves to organize preferences for males' songs and guides their behavioral reactions to song in the form of a copulation solicitation display that ensures survival of the species. The project capitalize on the robustness, selectivity, and social malleability of the copulatory behavior in the brown-headed cowbird, to investigate how the song system transforms a sensory stimulus (the song) into a motor command that controls a postural response. The project also provides opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to engage in interdisciplinary research, and it includes science education activities aimed at elementary school children as well as a comprehensive summer course in neuroscience for high school students.The proposed work integrates disparate fields of science, including neuroscience, behavior, and engineering to provide unique insight into the evolution of neural circuits that control behavior. In the first aim, the investigators use a combination of classic pathway tracing techniques and recently developed transsynaptic tracer (vesicular stomatitis virus) to map the connectivity from the forebrain to the individual muscle groups that are activated during the production of a copulation solicitation display (CSD). In the second aim, the investigators record neural activity in forebrain song control nuclei HVC and RA during the production of CSD in female cowbirds to quantify the nature of the forebrain motor commands that control this highly selective sexual behavior. To evaluate the relationship between recorded neural activity patterns and the behavior, we will use a computer vision approach to quantify the copulatory behavior. In the final aim of the proposal, the investigators record neural responses to song in higher-order auditory forebrain areas (NCM, NIf, CM) within the context of CSD production. These experiments serve to test the hypothesis that these forebrain areas, which have known projections to song control nuclei, encode song valence and provide a direct link between song quality and the females' behavioral response. The neural and behavioral data will be made available at public internet site dedicated to Song Bird Science.

几十年来，神经学家和进化生物学家一直对鸣鸟的“歌唱系统”的机制和功能感兴趣。“歌唱系统”是一种相互连接的神经回路，将大脑中的高级听觉区域与脑干中驱动行为的运动回路连接起来。这项工作主要集中在歌唱系统如何允许雄性鸣禽学习和产生歌声。对于不会唱歌的雌性鸣鸟来说，这个回路的作用在很大程度上被忽视了。这项研究没有充当产生发声行为的回路，而是研究了一种假设，即雌性的“歌曲系统”用于组织对雄性歌曲的偏好，并以交配恳求展示的形式引导它们对歌曲的行为反应，以确保物种的生存。该项目利用褐头牛鸟交配行为的健壮性、选择性和社会延展性，研究歌声系统如何将感觉刺激(歌声)转化为控制姿势反应的运动指令。该项目还为本科生和研究生提供了从事跨学科研究的机会，它包括针对小学生的科学教育活动，以及针对高中生的综合神经科学暑期课程。拟议的工作整合了不同的科学领域，包括神经科学、行为学和工程学，以提供对控制行为的神经回路进化的独特洞察。在第一个目的中，研究人员结合使用经典的路径跟踪技术和最近开发的跨突触示踪剂(水泡性口炎病毒)来映射从前脑到在交配请求显示(CSD)过程中激活的单个肌群的连接。在第二个目的中，研究人员记录了雌性牛鸟产生CSD期间前脑歌曲控制核团HVC和RA的神经活动，以量化控制这种高度选择性性行为的前脑运动指令的性质。为了评估记录的神经活动模式和行为之间的关系，我们将使用计算机视觉方法来量化交配行为。在该提案的最终目的中，研究人员在CSD产生的背景下，记录了高阶听觉前脑区(NCM、NIF、CM)对SONG的神经反应。这些实验旨在验证这样一种假设，即这些已知向歌曲控制核团投射的前脑区域编码歌曲价格，并在歌曲质量和女性行为反应之间提供直接联系。神经和行为数据将在宋鸟科学的公共网站上公布。