Neuronale Grundlagen des Gesangerlernens in Zebrafinken
Zusammenfassung der Projektergebnisse
Motor memories are shaped by imitation and practice. In this project we aimed to undercover the neural mechanisms that allow songbirds to memorize a tutor song and eventually imitate it. To this extend we wanted to investigate how the auditory percept of the tutor song is integrated in the auditory pathway, translated to the motor pathway and eventually executed as a motor program. Zebra finches learn their song from their father during a critical period of 90 days post hatching. The vocal control area HVC (proper name) is involved in song production and learning. During my postdoc I discovered that inhibition within HVC gradually increases depending on song performance 1. Since HVC receives inputs from auditory nuclei I wanted to explore the source of the signal that induces performance-dependent inhibition in HVC. Due to the anatomical connectivity two higher order auditory nuclei were the regions of interest. My first goal was to characterize the activity changes in these areas in response to the tutor song during development while simultaneously monitoring the juvenile’s song performance. Next, I wanted to disentangle the contribution of the two higher auditory areas onto the performance-dependent inhibition and whether they project to different cell types in HVC. Therefore, the song-related activity changes in HVC during the course of song learning should be monitored and reveal how sensory information is integrated into the ongoing motor program and how the sparse neural code emerges. HVC is comprised of three main classes of neurons: HVC interneurons, HVC premotor neurons and HVC neurons projecting to area X. During my postdoc I focused on the characterization of interneurons and HVC premotor neurons. In this project I proposed to also explore the HVC neurons projecting to Area X during development to answer the question whether the tutor song also drives these neurons to induce plasticity in the learning pathway. Therefore, I aimed to track the HVCX neuron activity during learning to explain the means by which motor related activity in HVC is transformed to a motor copy used to update the learning pathway. My last aim was to understand how the output signal generated by HVCX neurons is integrated into the learning pathway. Therefore, I proposed to conduct intracellular recordings of medium spiny neurons in area X in the developing zebra finches to uncover the precise songrelated synaptic inputs and elucidate how the motor signal originating from HVC is used by Area X to improve performance.
Projektbezogene Publikationen (Auswahl)
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Inhibition within a premotor circuit controls the timing of vocal turn-taking in zebra finches. Nature Communications, 11(1).
Benichov, Jonathan I. & Vallentin, Daniela
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A feedforward inhibitory premotor circuit for auditory–vocal interactions in zebra finches. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(23).
Norton, Philipp; Benichov, Jonathan I.; Pexirra, Margarida; Schreiber, Susanne & Vallentin, Daniela
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Convergent behavioral strategies and neural computations during vocal turn-taking across diverse species. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 73, 102529.
Banerjee, Arkarup & Vallentin, Daniela
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High-density electrode recordings reveal strong and specific connections between retinal ganglion cells and midbrain neurons. Nature Communications, 13(1).
Sibille, Jérémie; Gehr, Carolin; Benichov, Jonathan I.; Balasubramanian, Hymavathy; Teh, Kai Lun; Lupashina, Tatiana; Vallentin, Daniela & Kremkow, Jens
