COMPARATIVE STUDIES OF VOCAL CONTROL

声音控制的比较研究

• 批准号: 6724840
• 负责人: ELIOT A BRENOWITZ
• 金额: $ 29.41万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 1995
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1995-04-01 至 2005-09-29
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/6724840
• 关键词: Aves; animal communication behavior; behavioral /social science research tag; bioperiodicity; central neural pathway /tract; experimental brain lesion; hormone regulation /control mechanism; male; neural plasticity; neuroanatomy; photostimulus; seasons; sex hormones; vocalization

DESCRIPTION (Adapted From The Applicant's Abstract): A fundamental feature of nervous systems is that they provide plasticity of structure and function which allows animals to adapt to changes in their environment. We are only beginning to understand the underlying mechanisms, the limitations, and the behavioral consequences, such as learning, of naturally occurring plasticity in the brain. The song control system in the avian brain provides excellent opportunities for addressing such basic issues of behavioral neuroscience. Seasonal changes of environmental factors, such as photoperiod, have a profound effect on birds and most other animals. In songbirds seasonal changes in photoperiod elicit changes in circulating concentrations of gonadal steroid hormones, which in turn cause changes in song behavior and in morphological and physiological attributes of the neuroendocrine system that controls song. The exchange of social cues between individuals enhances the growth of the song system during the breeding season. The goal of this proposal is to use a comparative approach to explore the proximate mechanisms and behavioral functions of seasonal plasticity in the avian song control system. We will determine whether the social enhancement of the seasonal growth of the song nuclei is mediated by auditory stimuli. We will examine whether social stimulation from other birds enhances the growth of the song nuclei by increasing the recruitment and/or survival of newly generated neurons in the adult bird's song system. To test the hypothesis that maintenance of seasonally grown song nuclei depends on innervation from afferent nuclei, we will lesion nucleus HVc unilaterally in canaries that have been on breeding photoperiods for one month and compare the morphology of the afferent nuclei RA and Area X ipsilateral and contralateral to the lesion. The hypothesis that seasonal growth of the song nuclei is regulated by estrogenic metabolites of testosterone will be tested by measuring the morphology of song nuclei, song behavior, and plasma hormone levels in wild song sparrows implanted in early Fall with different steroids. We will use operant conditioning techniques to test the hypothesis that seasonal changes in song perception are functionally related to seasonal plasticity of the song system. The results of the proposed studies will increase our understanding of steroid hormonal and social influences on the nervous system, and of the relationship between plasticity in the adult brain and learning.

描述（改编自申请人的摘要）： 神经系统的一个基本特征是它们提供了可塑性 结构和功能使动物能够适应自身的变化 环境。我们才刚刚开始了解其根本机制 自然的局限性和行为后果，例如学习 大脑中发生可塑性。鸟类大脑中的歌曲控制系统 为解决此类基本行为问题提供了极好的机会 神经科学。环境因素的季节变化，如光周期、 对鸟类和大多数其他动物产生深远的影响。在鸣禽季节 光周期的变化引起性腺循环浓度的变化 类固醇激素，进而导致歌曲行为和行为的变化 神经内分泌系统的形态和生理特性 控制歌曲。个体之间社交线索的交流增强了 繁殖季节鸣叫系统的生长。本提案的目标 就是用比较的方法来探讨近因机制 鸟类鸣叫控制系统中季节可塑性的行为功能。 我们将确定季节性增长的社会增强是否 歌曲核是由听觉刺激介导的。我们将检查是否社交 来自其他鸟类的刺激通过以下方式增强了鸣核的生长 增加新产生的神经元的招募和/或存活 成年鸟的鸣叫系统。检验季节性维持的假设 生长的宋核依赖于传入核的神经支配，我们会损伤 处于繁殖光周期的金丝雀中单侧核 HVc 1个月并比较传入核RA和X区的形态 病变的同侧和对侧。假设季节性 宋核的生长受雌激素代谢物的调节 将通过测量宋核的形态来测试睾酮 早期植入的野生歌麻雀的行为和血浆激素水平 与不同的类固醇一起跌倒。我们将使用操作性条件反射技术 检验以下假设：歌曲感知的季节性变化具有功能性 与歌曲系统的季节性可塑性有关。拟议的结果 研究将增加我们对类固醇激素和社交的了解 对神经系统的影响以及可塑性之间的关系 成人的大脑和学习。